This Isn't Going to End Well
by MnemeMemory
Summary: Kim is forced into Hogwarts to take care of one 'Harry Potter', and Jackie is dragged along for the ride. All the while, they've got to deal with closed-mouthed Witches, an evil Professor, and…exploding doors? This is going to be a long year…
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Soul Eater, nor Harry Potter (I don't have that kind of skill _or_ money…) 

A girl with short pink hair and a green-and-white school uniform tapped her fingers against her thigh anxiously. Her pretty face was creased into an intimidating scowl of annoyance, which kept away all unwanted attention, and it wasn't until her partner finally came out of the building that it lifted.

"_Finally_," Kim Diehl snapped, hefting her duffle-bag. "You took _forever_, Jackie."

The girl, Jaqueline O. Lantern Dupre (Jackie for short), just smiled. "I had to make sure that we had everything, Kim. We're going to be gone for a fair amount of time."

"This is so _stupid_!" Kim kicked out at one of the walls resentfully, and then broke off into curses as her foot came away bruised. "Dammit!"

"Calm down," Jackie said. "It's really not…that bad…"

_Except, it kinda was_.

"Not bad? NOT BAD? You've got to be _kidding_ me, Jackie! I don't know _why_ they think this is such a good idea!" she lowered her voice, but her tone was no less angry when she hissed: "I'm a Witch. I understand why _I_ was chosen. But they don't have to subjugate _you_ to this ordeal! It's _totally_ unfair on you –"

"I volunteered, Kim, as you well know. You're just sore that Lord Death is backing up the witches on this."

"I shouldn't have to go to some damn _school_!" Kim spluttered. "I am a _Meister_! We have _better_ things to do than flounce around trying to take care of some _moron_!"

"His name is Harry Potter, and from what I've read he's had a very sad life," Jackie said chidingly.

Kim spat into one of the side-bushes. "Why should _I _care that he's had a sad life? Pretty much every damn _person_ in this school has had something _bad_ happen to them. Especially after Asura." She added in a much more subdued voice.

"I know," Jackie said. "But I think that this s important. It's a show of good will on both the DWMA* and the Witches parts. I think that this'll help improve relations."

"Political bullshit. They trust us or they don't."

Jackie felt a warm glow with Kim stating that she viewed the Witches as 'them' and the DWMA as 'us', though she knew that she shouldn't. Kim probably didn't even realise the differentiation, but Jackie always had. It was in the small things, but it was nice knowing that her Meister firmly viewed herself as a member of the DWMA, and the Spartoi.

"It's not as simple as that, Kim," Jackie said tolerantly.

Kim just scowled. When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs and reached the roads of Death City (they _really_ needed to put in, like, an _escalator_ or something. Maybe a ski ramp), they caught a bus towards the airport.

"I _hate_ flying!" Kim grumbled all the way.

"Hey!" Jackie pretended to be annoyed. "You don't seem to mind it when _I'm_ the one doing the flying!"

"That's different!" Kim was hasty to reassure her. "You're not some cesspool of breeding bacteria! You're…Jackie." She shrugged, obviously unable to think of a better way to describe her.

"Thanks," Jackie said dryly. "And anyway, I don't see why we can't just get one of the witches to send us there. It'd be so much more convenient for everyone…"

Kim shrugged. "Honestly? That was my call. I'm not…practiced…enough to send us somewhere that far away. And I'm not too crash-hot about letting someone _else_ transport us to a different country. The people who are powerful enough to do that are either insane or untrustworthy."

Jackie nodded, and they both sat in silence until the bus arrived at their stop. Both Meister and Weapon disembarked and walked through to the special section of the airport that was reserved specifically for personnel of the DWMA.

"Thank goodness," Jackie sighed. "I _hate_ going through metal detectors."

"_You_ hate it? _I'm_ the one who has to stick _with_ you while they try to figure out if you have a bomb strapped to you or not."

Jackie shrugged, hefting her small black suitcase onto the plane, indicating to the hostess that it was carry-on luggage.

Neither girl had packed much; while it had been made clear to them that they would be staying away from their rooms at the DWMA for quite some time, both had gotten into the habit of packing just the bare essentials and buying everything else that was needed when they arrived at their destination. It saved both time and money, considering that plane tickets were cheaper with only carry-on luggage (not that they actually _had_ to pay for plane tickets, being DWMA students and all, but it was the principle of the thing).

When they arrived to their seats, Kim huffily claimed the one closest to the window, with Jackie sitting sedately next to her Meister with a small, amused smile gracing her lips.

"Stop smiling," Kim growled.

"I'm not smiling,"

"Yes you are!"

Jackie just rolled her eyes, having become used to her partner's bad temper (especially when she was being forced to do something that she didn't want to) and stowed her things under the seat. Then she pulled out some files from Kim's bad (ignoring her Meister's grumbled of: "Hey! That's _mine_!") and started flipping through them.

"I don't know why you're bothering," Kim said. "You already know that stuff back to front. You're the one that insisted on getting those, anyway."

"If we're going to work at protecting this poor boy, we're going to have to understand their world." Jackie said severely. "From what I've gathered, these people are completely cut off from the rest of the wider magical community. At best, they've set up communication with a few other magical schools, but this pocket of England is totally isolated. Their communities, aside from the Headmaster, are going to have no idea about the DWMA, Weapons or Meisters."

"I know." Kim groaned. "But for whatever reason, the Witches have decided that this boy needs to be protected. Something about some crazy-guy who's decided he wants immortality." She paused. "He sounds insane. You don't suppose he could become a Kishin, do you?"

Jackie shuddered. "I hope not." She said fervently. "Perhaps we should have requested backup. Maka and Soul, maybe?"

"They're too busy," Kim groused. "Besides, the Witches requested me _specifically_. You're only here because you're damned by association. Too many Meisters and Weapons, and I think that everyone'd be antsy. As it is, a lot of the students at the DWMA can barely stand to be in my presence."

"That has nothing to do with your being a Witch, Kim," Jackie said dryly.

Kim glared at her partner for a minute, and then sighed and rolled her eyes. "What? You're saying that they can't appreciate my _sparkling_ looks and my _dazzling_ personality?"

"No," Jackie laughed, before turning her attention back to the files.

When the plane announced take-off was imminent, Kim snatched some of the files from Jackie's lap and started to scan them.

"I thought that looking through them was useless?" Jackie said slyly.

Kim scowled. "Shut up. I'm bored. _Where_ are we going again?"

Jackie once again consulted with her paperwork, even though she knew the name off by heart (in all honestly, she had been hoping that it was a typo or something).

"Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry," she said. "Man, this is going to be an interesting few months."

Kim sighed. "Kill me now, please." 

*Okay, so I _want _to say 'Shibusen', but I'm so _lazy_ and writing 'DWMA' is so much _faster_…

As for readers of 'Woes' (not that I'm actually expecting any here) I'm working on the last chapter; I'm just having a little trouble writing it. I love-love-love Soul Eater, and I was scanning through some of my stuff when I realised that: "Hey! Kim's a witch (_duh_) and Harry's a wizard (_duh_) and _maybe_…" (what happened next was this ridiculous piece of writing).

Reviewing will make my day! (And force me to upload faster!)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Soul Eater or Harry Potter (but _man_ do I wish I did…) because that would mean that I was actually a good writer…sobs…maybe someday.

Also – Thanks to everyone that reviewed (**coronadomontes** and **Plotbunnyhunter**)! *Beams hysterically with shining eyes*, honestly, it means the world to me.

…

"Kim!" Jackie prodded her partner. When the Witch refused to wake up, Jackie poked her harder. "_Kim_!"

"Wh-at?" Kim whined, cracking open her eyes just enough to glare at her Weapon.

"We're landing soon." She said. "Don't you want to get ready?"

Kim groaned and slumped further into her seat. She _hated_ sleeping while flying, but she had been too worn out by her constant complaining to really care. Now, she was regretting it; a kink had settled in her neck, and her hair probably looked worse than Soul's.

"KIM!" Jackie said once again.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Kim sat up straight and glanced around. The airplane was packed, with people occupying every spare inch of space that was provided. Kim grimaced as a baby started wailing, and a mother desperately tried to shut it up.

"I hate kids," she muttered, rifling through her duffle-bag in order to find some food. Chocolate would be nice, she thought dreamily, but she had forgotten to pack some _again_, and all she had left was a packet of skittles and…

Wordlessly, Jackie handed her a Mars Bar.

"I love you," Kim said fervently, unwrapping the scrumptious treat and taking a huge bite out of it.

Jackie blushed, and laughed nervously. "I know you always forget the chocolate…" she shrugged.

Kim just beamed at her, too high from the cocoa to really care about her surroundings. That all changed when the plane finally touched down on the asphalt and her previous bad mood returned.

"This sucks," she muttered petulantly as they grabbed their things and disembarked the plane. "We have to be around Witches – _Witches_! I mean, I know _I'm_ a Witch, and I really don't mind the occasional get-together, but I don't think I can _stand_ to be in a whole _school_ of them…" she shuddered theatrically.

Jackie rolled her eyes and grabbed her Meister's wrist, tugging her along. "C'mon, Kim." She said. "It's not that bad. You'll be able to practice magic while you're there. I know you're always so antsy about not being able to do too much at school…"

Kim spluttered her protests, but Jackie knew her Meister better than she knew herself. She know how it hurt, not being able to use her magic on a regular basis. It was like getting a limb cut off; magic was an intrinsic part of Kim's being. To be cut off from it, simply because she was frightened of her peers – that stung on a level that Jackie couldn't even begin to understand.

That's not to say that none of the students were fairly accepting of Kim's Witch status. Many had known her for years, and being accepted into the Spartoi hadn't exactly hurt them, either.

But there were some students who refused to believe that a Witch could do any good. Jackie got a lot of flack for being Kim's partner; Kim got a lot of flack for being Kim. They were both used to it.

_Maybe_, Jackie thought, _maybe this isn't going to be as bad as Kim thinks it will be. She'll be able to use magic on a daily basis – maybe _that'll_ improve her mood, somewhat…_

"We're supposed to meet an – Arthur Weasley?" Kim paused in walking to snicker. "Man, I wonder what type of Witch _he_ is?"

"Don't make fun of him, Kim," Jackie rolled her eyes. "You haven't even met him yet."

"C'mon, he's _got_ to be some sort of marsupial!"

"From what I've read" – at Kim's arched eyebrow, Jackie relented – "Okay, okay, so _maybe_ I asked Maka for a bit of help. Whatever. From what _I've_ read, these guys are pretty basic when it comes to magic. They've got all these different spells for different things, while you've just got one generic one."

"Seriously?"

"They even use _wands_." Jackie nodded.

"Oh, _Death_, that's funny!" Kim burst out laughing. "Brilliant! Beautiful! Why would they do something so _stupid_?"

"Calm down, Kim," Jackie rolled her eyes. "You see anyone who could be a Witch?"

"Yeah. C'mon." Kim's expression once again turned grumpy, and Jackie resisted the urge to sigh. She knew that she was going to have to deal with these mood-swings until Kim finally settled down, but that didn't mean that she was going to have to _like_ them…

"Oi, you here for us?" Kim walked straight up to a nervous man with thin red hair and a fascinated expression on his face. He was in the process of staring in apparent awe at a luggage-carousel, and people were giving him weird looks. "Arthur Weasley?"

The man jumped. "That's me!" he said quickly. "And you would be…?"

"Kim Diehl," Kim nodded. "This is my p…" Kim paused. Perhaps he was one of those people who wouldn't know anything about Meisters and Demon Weapons. She decided that it would be safer for both of them if she kept introductions as normal as possible. "This is Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupre. We're here from the DWMA."

Arthur Weasley nodded, though it was obvious that he was in over his head. He asked if they had any baggage, and looked disappointed when both girls denied him the chance to stare some more at the luggage carousel.

"Oh, well." He said, trying to remain optimistic. "Come with me. You'll be staying at my place for the time being. I hope that it'll be alright; it's a bit rundown, but it's very comfortable."

"As long as we stay together," Kim grunted, scowling, and Mr. Weasley nodded, looking slightly intimidated.

Jackie just rolled her eyes at the tanuki-Witch's triumphant smirk.

The drive to the Weasley's was long and boring. Kim amused herself between poking Jackie and asking Mr. Weasley anything and everything about the British wizarding world.

"Do you guys have demons?" she demanded after a particularly nerve-wracking question that had nearly sent Mr. Weasley into hysterics.

"Demons?" Mr. Weasley paused to think, absently wiping beads of sweat from his forehead (Kim tended to have that effect on people). "Not that I can think of. I thought that was foreign stuff; we've never really had a problem with that sort of thing over here."

"Really." Kim didn't look convinced, but let it slide. Jackie (who was getting a sore hip from being constantly prodded by Kim's finger) was relieved to see the end of _that_ car trip.

The house looked…well, words couldn't really describe it. It looked like the only thing that was holding it up was spit and prayers (and magic: if magic wasn't at work here, than the Laws of Gravity _really_ needed to be revised). It was akin to a precariously placed tower of brightly painted shoeboxes, and Kim couldn't help but marvel at the sheer _weirdness _of it (which was saying something – after all, she _did_ live in Death City).

"My eldest sons aren't living with us," Mr. Weasley explained. "We've had a hectic few years. Come on inside – I'll introduce you to my family."

Kim refused to be impressed. It wasn't hard; as many as there were, they weren't exactly the _impressive_ sort. Then again, her view on what was 'impressive' could have been skewed from excessive exposure to Black*Star (seriously, that kid could _not_ be human).

"This is Kim Diehl, and this is Jacquelyn O. Lantern Dupre."

Jackie flushed under the scrutiny she received from the plethora of strangers lined up in front of her, while Kim just hunched over and scowled. "Call me Jackie," she offered awkwardly.

Mr. Weasley nodded, and then proceeded to introduce everyone. "This is my lovely wife, Molly Weasley, and my sons; that's Ronald, the youngest, Fred and George, the twins, and Bill, my oldest. He's back from Egypt for a little while. This is my youngest, Ginny, and these are Ron's friends, Hermione and Harry."

"Pleasure to meet you," Jackie said. Kim rolled her eyes and gripped her duffle tighter.

"Now, I know that you must be tired after your plane tip…" Mr Weasley began.

"Yes!" Kim quickly said. "I don't suppose we could go and rest, could we?" Jackie nodded in fervent agreement.

"Yes, of course – I hope that you don't mind sharing a room with Ginny; she's the only girl in the house, aside from Molly, and I don't think that you'll be comfortable sharing with one of the boys. Hermione's staying there, too…"

Ginny's face made it clear that she wasn't a fan of this new arrangement; however, both Kim and Jackie nodded their acceptance. "C'mon," she said. "This way. I'll show you around, and then you can lie down for a bit."

The tour was short and to the point: "Bathroom there, attic there, boys rooms there, kitchen here. You'll stay in here. Any questions?"

Kim had a feeling that she wasn't going to like little Miss Ginny Weasley (that or they were going to get along famously – she opted for the former. As a rule, the only person she liked was Jackie).

As soon as they had dumped their bags onto the mattresses that had been somehow squeezed into the miniscule space, Ginny vanished, leaving the two DWMA students on their own.

"I don't like it here," Kim said immediately. "I want to go back."

"Of course you do," Jackie sighed, opening up her suitcase and grabbing a small hand-held mirror. "C'mon, we've got to report in."

"Think he'll let us return?" Kim asked hopefully.

"You never know," Jackie said, eyes telling her partner; '_No way in hell_'.

Kim sighed despondently, ignoring Jackie as she proceeded to fog up the mirror and write the numbers: "42-42-564, whenever you want to knock on Death's Door."

There was a brief intermission of darkness, and then the mirror cleared up to show the Death Room.

"Hey, Kid*," Jackie said to the masked figure in front of her. "Just us. You don't have to wear that thing."

"I need to practice for formal occasions." Kid's voice came back slightly muffled. "How are things going?"

"We're at the Weasley's, and we're in the same house as Harry Potter."

"I want to come back!" Kim called from where she was lying face-first on her mattress.

"Kim isn't happy here," Jackie added unnecessarily.

"I can tell," Kid said dryly. "Don't worry; I won't let them keep you there for too long. I need you guys hunting down pre-kishin, not body-guarding someone." The man behind the mask shrugged. "But this is part of a negotiation that we're working on with the Witches."

"I know," Jackie nodded. "And Kim does, too, even if she doesn't want to admit that this is important."

"I don't care!" Kim insisted to her mattress.

"Yes you do!"

...

*This is AFTER the manga, so Kid's father would be dead (sobs) and Kid would be the new 'Lord Death'.

Also, the timeline should be around Order of the Phoenix, but I completely forgot that they were supposed to go to Sirius's place, and since I like the setup that I've got I think that I'm going to keep it. Sorry!

Please review! I promise that there'll be more from the Harry Potter cast coming up!

**Also**: I'll try to update weekly, but I'm a very erratic writer who is sometimes prone to random mood swings.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer**: I own neither Harry Potter nor Soul Eater (but _boy_, do I wish I did…to be able to _write_ and _draw_ like that…*sighs despondently*)

…

Harry Potter was a particularly unimpressive boy. He was stick thin with black hair so messy it rivalled that of Soul and round glasses that Kim had to physically resist the urge to break. His lightning scar on his forehead – one of the few things worth noting about his appearance – rested directly above his emerald-green eyes.

All in all, his somewhat ordinary appearance (at least, compared to the people Kim had a habit of hanging out with) hid a very quiet exterior.

"So there was a giant snake…" Kim prodded him one evening, Jackie sitting sedately on the couch next to her. School was approaching at a break-neck pace that Km certainly _didn't_ appreciate, and she wanted to get as much intel on this kid as possible. Files could only tell them so much.

Harry stiffened, and his red-haired friend, Ron, glared at her openly.

"None of your business," he snapped.

"Au contraire, my little red friend." Kim smirked at his spluttering. "I don't know how much anyone's told you – and in all honesty, I really don't care. Here's how it's going to be: me and Jackie" – she ignored Jackie's pointed murmuring of "Jackie and _I_" – "Are going to make sure that you'll stay _safe _this term. And, I'm telling you, from your track record I'm expecting it to be one tough mission. So you are going to _tell_ me everything that you know, or I'm going to _pound_ it out of your _skull_ and –"

Jackie smacked a hand over her mouth.

"Ignore her," she said. "And tell us what's going on."

"You're here to…protect me?" Harry looked uncertain.

Kim nodded furiously, trying to dislodge Jackie's hand from her face, but to no avail.

"Am I supposed to know about that?"

Jackie looked marginally aggravated. "No. I don't think that you are."

Harry blinked slowly at them, and then nodded. "Okay." He said. "Thanks for telling me. What do you want to know?"

Kim's eyes widened. "Wait, what?" she blurted out. "You'll just…tell us? Just like that?"

Harry shrugged, fiddling with his hands. He looked two parts frustrated, one part angry. "I'm sick of having people leave me out of things, even though I'm supposed to help out." He gave a quick, hard glare to his red-haired friend, who had the grace to blush.

Jackie catalogued the expression, frowning. Obviously, this boy was having trouble with his friends.

Perhaps they could help out with that, too…

Kim, who knew her Demon Weapon so well that she could almost read her mind, scowled. Great. Now, she was going to be stuck with a kid who had a hero-complex (she tried not to think of Maka) and who had friendship issues.

Jackie was _never_ going to let this lie, and she was going to guilt Kim to helping out in some way (how the Demon Lantern managed to do such a thing was one of the great mysteries of the DWMA: Kim was, after all, was almost collectively considered to be evil and soulless – a view that had nothing to do with her Witch status).

All in all, Kim's day had just gotten worse.

"Can you get your hand off my mouth?" she tried to say, but it came out as "mmph hum my mumph mmph".

Jackie's frown deepened, and she released her. "Sorry, what was that?"

Kim just glared at her partner, and demanded chocolate.

Resigned, Jackie fished out another Mars bar and handed it over.

"I'm used to her, by now," she said at Harry's confused look. "The only thing that can pacify her if chocolate. I've always got a few bars somewhere on my person. Otherwise…" a small expression of horror flashed over her face.

Harry gulped, and Ron looked uneasy.

"Ronald! Harry!" a shrill voice from upstairs sounded upstairs. Hermione. "Are you going to come and help us clean, or not?" The tall girl with frizzy hair appeared at the top of the stairs, blinking when she saw them all sitting around the table. "Oh, hello." She said. "Kim and Jackie, right? Do you think you'd like to help, too?"

Kim's eyes brightened, and Jackie barely suppressed a resigned groan. "Will you pay me?"

"She's joking!" Jackie said quickly at Hermione's shocked face, quickly palming another bar of chocolate and shoving it into Kim's hands. "You can't take any money from there people! They can't afford your fee!"

"I'd give them a discount!" Kim insisted (unconvincingly) as they both got up to follow Harry and Ron.

"No you wouldn't," Jackie said.

"Yes I would!"

Jackie rolled her eyes and decided not to comment. Some fights were just too hard to win…

Cleaning turned out to be both an exciting and dangerous experience. Understandably, both Kim and Jackie had a natural aversion to spiders, and both destroyed and avoided them in equal measures. Jackie had almost fried one when an arachnid the size of a baby seal jumped out at her (which would have blown their cover spectacularly) had Kim not been in the room to smoosh it underfoot.

"I hate spiders," she muttered with a slight maniacal gleam to her eyes a she ground the body of the spider into a black pulp.

Hermione stared at her, looking both disturbed and horrified, and Jackie internally sighed. Kim and Hermione were never going to get along; Hermione was too idealistic, while Kim expected the worst in people (right or wrong). Still – she had hoped to stave off confrontation for another few weeks.

Oh, well.

"Two more days," Kim muttered as she lay down on her mattress. Ginny had already fallen asleep, and while Kim knew that Hermione was listening, she couldn't bring it in herself to care.

"We'll get through this," Jackie promised quietly. "As soon as Kid decides to let us leave, we'll go."

"I know." Kim scowled. "I want to go hunting. I'm bored, and you haven't had enough so…food, lately." She decided _very quickly_ against saying the word 'soul'. Though she didn't care how Hermione treated _her_, Jackie tended to be more than a little sensitive on the subject of 'friends', and Kim doubted that anyone here would be in an open mind about Jackie's being a Demon Weapon.

"I'm fine."

Kim paused. It didn't matter anymore – not now that they had a treaty with the Witches (and besides, Kim wasn't sure she _could_ have let Jackie kill a Witch, even if it had been legal) – but she was interested in knowing how far away they were from getting Jackie to Deathscythe status (if Witch souls hadn't been put off the menu. "How many do we have?"

"Seventy five." Jackie said without missing a beat, apparently aware of where her meister's thoughts were taking her.

"Reasonable," Kim said.

"We haven't been out that much. We've been too focused on…you know." _The Keishin. Undercover missions for the Spaorti. The usual_.

"I know."

…

Okay! So, I promise – next chapter, they go to Hogwarts! (finally, Mneme! Some plot!)

Alright, I guess I'll get right down to it: pairings (thanks to **Krazyfanfiction1 **for reminding me, or I would have completely forgotten). Okay, here goes:

I suck at writing romance. _Terrible_ at it. Most of my 'fics are almost guaranteed to be pairing-free (though that could change at a later date). That being said, I'm a really big supporter of KimxJackie. I think they're adorable together, and, as **Krazyfanfiction1** has also pointed out, there are very few 'fics about them.

You see my dilemma. So, here it goes: while this may not be a fully romance 'fic, if there _is_ going to be a main pairing, that's probably going to be it. Fair warning.

If anyone's got a problem with that, feel free to PM me, and I'll listen to your opinions on the matter, though I doubt my stance will change.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Please still review, though! I'm working on the next chapter, but sometimes I get really bad writers block – reviews always motivate me! :)

Sorry for the long **author's** **note**!

MM

Also – side note! If you guys want pairings, the HP cast will probably be cannon, but that's kinda flexible. Tell me if you've got any preferences!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer**: I own neither Harry Potter, nor Soul eater

Enjoy! :)

…

Hogwarts wasn't as cool as the DWMA.

Kim thought it and spoke it.

"No way!" Harry rolled his eyes. He had grown comfortable around the two girls during their stay at the Burrow, and while he didn't consider them good friends, as he did Ron and Hermione, he still liked the way that Kim had absolutely no tolerance of the rules, and Jackie had absolute tolerance.

They were complete opposites. It was a wonder they hadn't killed each other, yet.

"For once" – Jackie ignored Kim's spluttered demand of "What do you mean, _for once_?" – "I agree with Kim. Hogwarts is impressive, but it's got nothing on the DWMA." There was a small pause. "Especially the stairs. Nothing can beat those stairs."

Both girls shuddered.

The backbreaking staircase had tormented both the Weapon and Meister for a long, long time, until Jackie had learned to fly. Unfortunately, as Kim hadn't actually partnered with the Demon Lamp until Jackie had progressed into the EAT class, she hadn't been able to benefit from her flight abilities until _afterwards_.

Still, she was _really, really_ glad that Jackie could fly.

"I don't believe you." Hermione sniffed, looking over her school with soft eyes.

Kim and Jackie exchanged a look, and Kim shrugged. Jackie had tried whenever possible to limit their interactions with the intelligent girl, but Kim had found it to be too much fun to just leave her be (especially when she responded so well) and the end result had been the two becoming mutual enemies.

The pair had spent the train ride grilling Harry about his trial, which they had only found out about thanks to a slip of the tongue on Ron's part. Thankfully, they had come in _after_ all that mess had been sorted out, but it was still a worrying sign.

"So let me get this straight – one more time." Kim said as they walked over to the horseless carriages. "They just…decided that you were lying? Couldn't they have just – I dunno – used a truth spell or potion or whatever? It'd have been easy to see if you were telling the truth, then."

"It would have been unethical." Hermione pointed out.

Kim gave her a blank look. "How?"

Jackie nudged her meister in the ribs, and Kim sighed. "Fine, fine," she muttered, trying to think of something else to talk about before the temptation to rib Hermione some more overcame her.

Her eyes fell on the horseless carriages.

Well. The _almost_ horseless carriages.

"Jackie," Kim murmured quietly, eyes not moving from the skeletal horses that were hooked up to the transportation. She held out a gloved hand instinctively, and Jackie clasped it back, mind already sliding into preparation for turning into a Weapon.

"What's taking you so long?" Ron called. "C'mon. We'll be late for the food!"

"_Honestly_, Ron!" Hermione said, sounding one part amused and two parts aggravated. "Is that _all_ you think about?"

"Hey, hey!" Ron said. "I think about other stuff!"

"Such as?"

"What are those things?" Kim interrupted before they could get into _another_ one of their already infamous fights.

"What things?" Hermione turned to stare at her suspiciously.

"Those…horse…things." Kim tried to put what she was seeing into words. "Like…living skeletons." Inspiration struck. "The zombie horses!"

Hermione didn't look impressed. "What zombie horses?"

"Those…are you _blind_, lady?" Kim shook her head. "You can see them, right?" she turned, appealing to Harry.

"Um…" he exchanged a shrug with his best friends. "Sorry, mate. I don't see anything."

"You're kidding!" Kim glanced at her best friend, hoping for reassurance. "I'm not mad, right?"

"No," Jackie reassured her. "I can see them, too."

By now, a fair amount of students had gathered around them, alternating between looking at the carriages with new apprehension and at the two girls.

"Oi! Move it, move it!" a gruff voice called out.

"Hagrid!" Harry, Ron and Hermione exclaimed in sync.

"'Ello!" a tall man with a thick beard boomed. "Now, wha' have we go' 'ere?"

"I don't like the zombie horses!" Kim insisted, clutching onto Jackie's hand. She had to physically resist the urge to tell her partner to turn into a Weapon.

Okay, so _maybe_ she was a little trigger happy; she had survived Crona, the DWMA and the Keishin. She deserved the right to be a little paranoid.

"Zom'bie 'orses?" Hagred sounded bemused, and then his rugged face lightened in understanding. "Oh! You mean them Thestrals!"

"Thestrals?"

"_Thestrals_!" Hermione exclaimed. "But _Hagrid_! Aren't they supposed to bring death?"

Hagrid gave them both a piercing look. "Bad reputations, they have. Sweet as a Southern Belle, but 'cause you can't see 'em unless you've seen an' accepted death, people are a little – jumpy 'round 'em."

"Seen and accepted death?" Jackie repeated, staring at the zombie horses – _thestrals_ – dubiously. Then she mentally shrugged, though she didn't yet release her meister's hand. "Okay, then. Come on, Kim."

Kim shot the thestrals a look of deep distrust, and then followed her Weapon into one of the few remaining carriages. Harry and his friends, though they tried to follow, were shepherded into another carriage by a weary-looking Hagrid. That left both girls alone.

With a lurch, the carriage rolled forward.

"I don't like it here," she muttered, tugging at the robes that had been forced upon her. Underneath, she still wore her usual uniform, of course – though her green school jumper had had to be packed away. "There are zombie horses and these robes will do nothing but hinder us while we're trying to fight."

"You're assuming that we're going to be in a fight, Kim," Jackie said, though she didn't disagree.

Kim gave her a mildly chiding look. "Of course we're going to be in a fight, Jackie. That's the point of us being here. We're going to protect the Potter brat, and then we're going to go home as soon as possible. Kid made it _very_ clear that we aren't needed here."

"The Witches think otherwise," Jackie said quietly.

"The Witches are old fashioned and lazy. If _they_ want to come and protect the kid, I'm certainly not going to stop them."

"Don't worry about it, Kim. As soon as Kid's able, we're going to be put back on active duty. In the meantime…" she shot her meister a sly look. "I got in a report from Azusa while you were getting changes. There's a pre-keishin around there parts. Wanna go hunting tonight?"

"_Death_, yes!" Kim hissed, sitting bolt upright. "That would be _great_!"

Jackie nodded, like she had expected this reaction. "Good. We'll sneak out from our dorms tonight, then?"

Kim made a sound of agreement. "I wish they had given us a map of this place," she muttered. "I still don't understand why."

"They have moving staircases, remember? A map would be made pretty much redundant before it was even completed."

"Then they use a _magic_ map!" Kim snapped in exasperation. "Whatever."

The carriage ground to a stop, and Kim and Jackie were left to swarm in with the rest of the students. It was a sea of black and white, and Kim had to grip Jackie's wrist tightly so that she wasn't separated from her Weapon in the crush.

"Death, I hate kids," Jackie heard her mutter.

Her lips twitched upward slightly, and she leaned over to whisper into the Witch's ear: "But think of all the money that you could extort from them!"

All at once, Kim's face shifted from resigned to greedy.

And Jackie couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor students, who were going to be _significantly_ poorer by the time the duo were recalled to Death City.

…

**Author's Note**: Alright – I apologize. This is such a sucky filler chapter, but I _promise_ that the plot actually starts next one! (cringes) – so, y'know, don't say too much negative stuff, would'ya? At the moment – my mentality is perhaps not at its best. I'm…struggling with some stuff at the moment. I'm not putting that out there for pity, just for some understanding. I'm hoping that the quality of my chapters will pick up soon, though, I promise!

Oh! Guys, I've written a little thing about an attempt to Sort Jackie and Kim. I'll post it soon, okay? Probably going to be called 'Oh, the Horror', and it'll probably be separate. Just so you know!

So. Please review! I'll spit out the next chapter sometime next week!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter, nor Soul Eater

Apologies straight up – this was only meant to be one scene, but it _evolved_. Next chapter = there will be _explosions_ and _plot_ and...the next chapter will be better. I'll upload it tomorrow (earlier than my usual schedule, but for some reason I feel guilty…)

…

Both Jackie and Kim had problems with the classes at Hogwarts: namely, because they didn't have wands.

"I didn't realise…oh, dear…" an old woman with a severe bun of hair, Professor McGonagall, fretted around her office. "You should have _said_ something…"

"I don't need a stupid wand to do magic," Kim scoffed. "And Jackie can't do magic, period. I thought that had been made clear to you."

"No – we thought that you had received at _least_ rudimentary tuition – oh, and with Professor Umbridge about…I'm afraid we're going to have to do something about this…"

"Look, I can create a few illusions…" Kim said uncertainly, "But Jackie_ can't_ do magic. As in, she's physically unable of it. Her soul can't produce the necessary series of electrons to stimulate the magic into cooperation. _Soul_, on the other hand…" a thoughtful look crossed her face. "He's a Death Scythe. So is Marie and Azusa and Spirit…_ooh_, I've _got_ to experiment with this when we get back! Jackie! Remind me!"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Kim."

"Then I can charge money for teaching them how to use magic!" Kim's eyes glowed maniacally.

Jackie sighed. "Yes, Kim."

"C'mon! We've got to go and report this!" Kim bounced off her chair – looking as though she was in a better mood than she had been throughout this whole Hogwarts escapade – and attempted to drag Jackie out the door.

"Not wait a minute, young lady!" Professor McGonagall spluttered.

Jackie sighed. "Kim, if you report it now, someone else is probably going to take over, and you won't be there to profit from it."

Kim paused. Jackie played her trump card: "They'll probably do it for Kid, _for free_."

Kim's face whitened in complete horror. "You're right," she scowled. "Alright, then. Come and help me make some more money. They don't have any part-time jobs available here, and the lack of gold is driving me insane!"

Jackie's shoulders slumped as she thought about what Kim was going to make her do. "Why haven't you been charged for extortion, yet?"

Kim smirked. "I'm a student of the DWMA! I am above the law!"

That wasn't true, and both of them knew it. As members of the Spartoi, especially, they were all expected to rigorously uphold the laws of the DWMA.

But that didn't exactly mean that Kim always _obeyed_ those rules. She had been known – on occasion – to toe the line.

For a healthy profit, of course.

"Please! Focus!" Professor McGonagall snapped. "And what are you _talking_ about? DWMA? Unable to use magic? Death Scythes?"

"Oops." Kim looked mildly sheepish. "Don't you know?"

"You'd have thought Dumbledore would have mentioned something." Jackie muttered.

"Dumbledore knows about this?"

Kim frowned, suddenly feeling uneasy. "He should."

Jackie and her meister exchanged uneasy glances. Just _how much_ Dumbledore knew had never really been explained to them, either by the DWMA or by the Council.

Kim felt like slapping herself. She had been so caught up in her mantra of '_I don't want to go_' that she had completely missed out on crucial information. She had been acting like a spoilt brat, and now she and Jackie had been deprived of something very, very essential.

She tried to think back. He hadn't seemed at all surprised at Jackie turning into her Demon Weapon form*, and her continues mentioning's of the DWMA hadn't seemed to faze him at all. Still, that guy had one hell of a poker face. He could have been bluffing.

_Dammit_!

"C'mon, Jackie," Kim said, face gloomy.

"Wait one minute!" Professor McGonagall protested, but the girls were already out the door.

"Where are we going?" Jackie asked her meister, having to jog slightly to keep up with Kim's long, frantic strides.

"To report. This isn't going to be fun."

Jackie frowned. "Oh."

Classes were still going on, so no one was there to intercept them when they came into the Gryffindor common room. Kim reluctantly marched up the stairs, and then pulled out her mirror from underneath her pillow.

Jackie sat next to her meister as Kim stared at the reflective surface silently.

"This isn't going to be pretty," she finally said, fogging it up with her breath.

Wordlessly, Jackie took her hand and squeezed it encouragingly.

"Okay, then." Kim nodded decisively, straightening her back with conscious effort. "Here we go."

42-42-564, whenever you want to knock on Death's Door.

The mirror's surface shimmered, and then an image of the Death Room invaded.

Kid wasn't wearing his now-usual Lord Death robes; instead, he wore his blazer and pants, reminiscent of the time he was a student at the DWMA. Liz lounged on a fold-up beach chair, eyes closed, mouth set in a resigned expression. Patty was drawing off to one side, a massive smile on her face.

Kid looked like he was ranting to someone just out of view.

"Ahem." Kim cleared her throat nervously. Kid didn't even appear to notice. "AHEM!"

"KID!" Jackie called.

Death the Kid blinked and spun around. "Liz! Why didn't you tell me that Kim and Jackie were supposed to report in today!"

"We weren't!" Jackie quickly reassured him. "We just need some information. Our next set date is for next week, Tuesday."

"Oh." Kid appeared slightly mollified, though he still shot his Weapon a peeved look. "Okay, then. What do you need?"

"Kim? Jackie?"

Both meister and Weapon blinked in surprise at the familiar voice. A second later, green eyes and pigtails appeared in front of them, a wide smile on the face.

"Maka! When did you get back?" Jackie smiled.

"Today. We're just debriefing with Kid. Where are you?"

"Classified!" Kid said hastily.

"C'mon, Kid, it's not like we're going to _tell_ anyone," a male voice drawled.

"Hey, Soul." Kim almost smiled.

Soul nodded to them coolly, and then arched an eyebrow to Kid. "Well?"

Kid sighed. "You know, it's really annoying that you always insist on butting in on missions that have no bearing on you whatsoever."

"Yeah, yeah. Get on with it, Kid." Liz called.

"Before you get into that," Kim interrupted them hastily. "I need info. Fast."

All of them, experienced as they were, suddenly tensed. Liz opened her eyes to stare at them, focus sudden and apparent. Patty, for all her apparent indifference, turned from her drawing to stare at them.

Only Soul seemed outwardly unaffected, though Kim noticed that even he instinctively moved closer to Maka. Whilst there was no obvious danger to _them_, such was their reaction to the unknown.

Violence.

Once upon a time, Jackie had grieved for that reaction. It meant that all of them had been through things that no one should be put through.

Now, however, she was grateful. Because they had survived.

"Look, we messed up." Kim was blunt and straight to the point. "We don't know anything about these, other than the bare essentials. If this had been a proper mission, and we had been paying attention, I never would have settled to the bare bones. I've got no idea how much this stupid Headmaster knows, and it seems that he hasn't designed to tell his teachers anything. They expected us to use _their_ type of magic, even though Jackie _obviously_ can't. I think he mentioned the Council of Witches once, but I can't be sure."

Kid's eyes sharpened. "Anything else?"

"He's seen Jackie transform. No apparent surprise, nor any reaction that I could discern."

"Hmm…"

Kid's analytical mind went to work, dissecting everything he could from those simple statements. "I'll contact the Council. Report back tomorrow morning. I'll have your information by then."

"Thanks."

They closed the connection just in time to hear Maka and Soul (well, mostly Maka) bombard Kid with question that included 'magic', 'witches' and 'teachers'.

"Well," Kim said after a long moment. "That went well."

"Yeah. No shouting or anything." Jackie smiled. "Though I don't know why you expected that. They're our friends, after all."

"They're professionals! _We're_ professionals. We should have asked for this information _ages_ ago."

"They're our friends." Jackie repeated. "C'mon. All we've got to do is avoid everyone for the day, and then we'll get the info. We'll plan our moves from there."

"To the library?" Kim offered. Most of everything there had been fire-proofed, thanks to years and years of magic-wielding students, so even if they were forced to fight (highly unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility) than the worst that could happen to he room was a few scorch marks on the floor.

Nothing to worry about.

"Yeah, that'd be good."

Jackie grabbed some snacks from her bag, figuring that it would be prudent not to show up to the Great Hall for dinner. They could camp out in the library until they had the info.

Professor McGonagall was still probably looking for them.

Just in case (the library could be drafty) Jackie grabbed a pair of blankets.

"We're going to get through this. We'll kill any pre-keishin that comes our way, we'll protect the Harry kid, and then we'll go home." Jackie promised.

Kim sighed, shoulders slumping. "I don't like it here. I don't like keeping secrets. It reminds me too much of the time before I was outed."

"We'll be fine," Jackie slung her arm around her meister's shoulders and smiled. "We're Spartoi. We can do anything."

…

*This refers to my oneshot about the disastrous attempt at Sorting Kim and Jackie, as seen on my profile (called: 'Oh, the Horror'). Read and review! :)

**Author's Note**: this scene was supposed to take up less than half of this chapter, but it grew and grew and grew – I'm sorry if this seems like a filler. It kind is. I'll have explosions in the next one, promise! And fighting! Also, info on how much Hogwarts _really_ knows about the DWMA and Demon Weapons, coming up!

And: more of the HP cast!

Please review!

MM


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Soul Eater or Harry Potter

The library was _cold_ at night.

Kim huddled in her blanket, trying desperately to gain as much warmth from it as possible. After a few more minutes of shifting, however, Jackie finally gave up any pretence of ignoring her meister's plight and said in exasperation: "Oh, for goodness _sake_, Kim. Come here!"

Gratefully, Kim dove to hug close to Jackie, whose internal body warmth was far higher than that of the Witch's. She wrapped her arms tightly around the Weapon's waist and snuggled into her shoulder, almost purring in contentment.

Jackie blushed furiously, but – seeing that Kim was still shivering – tentatively put her arms around her cold meister.

"Thanks, Jackie," Kim mumbled sleepily.

Jackie couldn't help but smile. "Welcome."

They stayed in that position until daybreak, huddled behind one of the many shelves as far away from the main desk as they could manage. It wasn't until the first few rays of sunlight broke through the window did Kim unlatch herself from Jackie, though she stayed close when she pulled out her mirror, unwilling to face the chill that was still prevalent throughout the library.

"You'd think they'd install central heating, or something," Kim muttered, fogging up the mirror with her breath.

"Your lips are blue," Jackie pointed out in concern. "Dammit, Kim! I could have ramped up my body heat, if you had just _told_ me!"

"But that makes you uncomfortable." Kim protested, scooting closer to her Weapon. "You told me that."

Jackie scowled. "So what? You're my meister, Kim. That means that I'm supposed to protect you from anything. That _includes_ hypothermia!"

"Whatever." Kim shrugged, writing: 42-42-564 onto the mirror. "Whenever you want to knock on Death's Door," she muttered to herself.

Jackie partially transformed her arm, so that she could encircle them in a bubble of warmth. Kim relaxed slightly, lips returning to their normal shade.

"Hi, Kid."

"Kim, Jackie," Maka said.

Kim frowned. "Maka? What are you doing in there – where's Kid?"

"He was called away to South America urgently. Soul and I are filling in until next week."

Kim paled. "And the information we needed…?"

"Got it right here," Maka promised, much to both of the girl's relief. "You just need to know how much those guys know about us, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Here goes," Maka cleared her throat and opened the file that she had been holding. "Dumbledore's been in contact with the Witch's Council for most of his life. Apparently, they've taken a liking to him, and they offered you guys there for some added protection. You know the basics of Harry Potter, I presume?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. At least you've been informed of that much," Maka's face radiated quiet anger. "I can't believe that they didn't properly brief you guys."

Kim shifted guiltily. "It's my fault for not picking up on that earlier."

"And mine!" Jackie quickly interjected.

"Never mind that," Maka shrugged. "The Council's been mainly staying out of the affairs of the wizarding government over there, the Ministry of Magic. It's not chaotic enough for them to take any interest in, honestly. As for the DWMA…until you guys went over there, we hadn't realised that this sort of community even existed. We're going to have to be a _lot_ more careful, now."

"Get on with it, Maka," Kim snapped.

"Right. Sorry." Maka consulted her notes. "Most of this 'wizarding world' is completely cut off from the rest of the universe – which pretty much means that they're isolated from the influence of the DWMA. Dumbledore's probably the only one there with any _real_ amount of information: he knows about the Council, he knows about Demon Weapons and meisters, and he knows about the DWMA. There are some 'muggleborns' – which means that their cells have spontaneously mutated to allow them to use magic – who might know a bit about you guys, though. We're basically a world-wide organization, after all."

"Yeah." Jackie looked thoughtful. "So how much are we allowed to show them?"

"Whatever you deem is necessary," Maka shrugged. "Kid trusts you, and so do I. You'll know the right amount of force to use." She paused. "Be careful."

Kim felt a chill go down her spine. "Is there a reason that you're warning us that, Maka? We're always the epitome of caution."

"I know, but…" she shrugged. "I've been looking around with my Soul Perception" – _looking for Chrona._ The words were unsaid, but not unheard. Maka had been continuously scanning the entire world (Kim shuddered to think of how much _power_ that took) ever since the Battle on the Moon, looking for some sign of her friend's soul wavelength – "And there's something…weird about where you are. It could be nothing, but…" she shrugged.

Jackie paused. "We read in the files that there was someone called Voldemort. From what I've heard…he sounds like he could become a keishin."

Maka's face was grim. "That would explain some of the disturbances that I've been feeling."

"He would have been affected by Asura's madness wavelength, too," Kim added her two cents. "So he's bound to be unstable."

"Great. Just what we need." Maka looked tired. "Just keep on sending in reports, and tell us when you need backup."

"We will," Kim assured her. "We don't exactly want to go up against another Asura. Not alone, at any rate."

"Cool," Maka smiled. "See you guys soon?"

"You will, if Kid's away for our report day," Jackie nodded.

They switched off the connection and stared at each other for a long second.

"I'll get to work on the illusions," Kim said. "Go find us some sticks of something. Or a pencil. I'll make them look like a wand. You won't be able to do anything if you're too far away from me, though."

"That's fine," Jackie nodded.

"This is so screwed up. Why hasn't Dumbledore briefed us properly?"

"Maybe he _wants_ everyone to know about us," Jackie suggested. "I mean, they're supposed to be fighting a war. Sort of. The DWMA would be a pretty powerful ally, but only if they – y'know – actually acknowledge our existence."

"So he's using us." Kim muttered, hissing in a long breath. "_Death_, I don't like him."

"We've probably caused quite a stir with our disappearance. We'd best go and get some breakfast, and then go to class."

"Pencils," Kim reminded her.

"They don't have pencils here, only quills," Jackie said sourly.

"Right."

They walked, hand in hand, out of the library, ignoring Madam Pince's squawk of: "You! What are _you_ doing in here?"

They hurried to breakfast, only to find them waylaid by the Golden Trio before they could enter the Great Hall.

"Where have you_ been_?" hissed Hermione, grabbing onto Jackie's arm (she was a bit leery around Kim) and dragging he into an alcove. Kim was forced to follow them.

"Kim! Jackie!" Ron practically shouted. Harry had to slap a hand over his best friend's mouth to shut him up.

"Shh!" Hermione snapped. Then she rounded onto the girls. "You didn't come back to the dormitory last night – Professor McGonagall's been worried like crazy! Umbridge's been snooping around, and she's threatened to give you a year's worth of detention if you don't show up to the next lesson – as it _is_, she's already taken twenty points away from Gryffindor, and –"

"Breathe, Hermione!" Harry said.

Obediently, Hermione inhaled deeply, and then continued with her rant.

"I'm hungry," Kim complained.

"Do you know how much _trouble_ you're in?"

"Do I look like I care?"

"This is serious! You _can't_ go to detention with Umbridge! She…" Harry broke away and scowled down at the floor.

Jackie's eyes narrowed. "Harry? What's the matter?" she asked gently.

"He got into detention with her last night because he spoke out of turn in class," Hermione said, lips thin with disapproval – but not, as it turned out, with Harry. "Go on, Harry. Show them your hand."

"It's fine."

"No it's not!" Hermione practically exploded. "Show them your hand, Harry Potter, or so help me I'll –"

"I'm showing them my hand!" Harry said hastily, knowing that it was _never_ a good thing when Hermione broke out the full name.

As he unravelled the bandages, Jackie let out a small hiss of sympathy. "Death, that looks painful."

Hermione, as usual, looked slightly perturbed by the way that the two always swore to 'death', but remained – as usual – remained silent.

"It's not so bad," Harry looked uncomfortable. "Just…y'know…try to stay out of Umbridge's radar for a while, okay? She's mean and she hates everyone's guts and…yeah."

"Oh, like we're going to take this lying down," Kim muttered. "C'mon, Jackie, let's go and have a little…_talk_ with Professor Dumbridge, hmm?"

"We can't, Kim." Jackie said. "We're not allowed to. Responsibilities, remember? Just because we're Spartoi doesn't mean that we're allowed to go and break the rules."

"Then what _good_ is it?" Kim whined.

"What's Spartoi?" Hermione butted in.

"None of your business, _princess_," Kim sneered. "Fine, fine, we won't do anything stupid. Can we go and get something to eat, now?"

They were just about to enter the Great Hall when the doors spontaneously combusted.

…

**A/N**: Okay! That's it for this week, folks! (grins) maybe this chapter was a tiny bit cruel, but I hope it made up for the last two fillers.

Next week I don't think I'm going to be able to update until later, so if you're looking for a Chapter it'll be around the Thursday-Friday-Saturday mark (at least, that's what I'm aiming for).

Hope you enjoyed this!

MM


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Soul Eater or Harry Potter (unfortunately)

Harry, Ron and Hermione just stared dumbly at the fire.

Kim and Jackie did not.

"Transform," the Witch barked, holding out her hand, and Jackie instantly went into her Demon Lamp form. Kim expertly held her out to the flames, face grim.

"Get back!" she snapped at the gaping trio. "Now!"

The three stumbled backwards as quickly as possible; it wasn't until they were pressed against the wall that they realised that Kim had no intention of following them.

"Kim! What are you –" Harry could only stare in horrified fascination as Kim pulled back a lantern (had that been _Jackie_? Surely not – such transfiguration without a wand was _impossible_ for fifth year students…)

"Stand back, idiot!" Kim yelled, and then the lantern started sucking the flames _into _it.

The fire licked hungrily at the stone, so hot that some of them started to crack. Everything was awash with smoke. Kim, trained as she was with Jackie, had trouble maintaining her balance as the sheer wall of _heat_ washed over her; grimly, she hung onto her Weapon, trusting Jackie would be able to handle it.

"What the bloody hell?" Ron shouted, pulling Harry back when his friend made as though to go closer. "Idiot! You could get burned!"

"Kim could get hurt! And where's Jackie?"

Ron's eyes widened in panic, and he glanced around wildly like he expected Jackie to appear from thin air.

"Stand back!" Professor McGonagall strode hurriedly towards the burning doors, wand at the ready. Students ran through the hallways in panic, screaming incoherently as heat flooded through the castle. A few enterprising students had banded together and shouted spells; some were to put out fire, while others produced medium-to-strong spouts of water.

Neither did any good. The former spells just fizzled out on contact with the flames, while the later evaporated the second the water left their wands.

As soon as Kim saw McGonagall, she jumped back and scurried towards one of the darkened hallways, soot staining her face black. Sweat poured from her skin, but she didn't stop running until she was sure that no one was following her.

"You okay, Jackie?" she asked, panting.

Jackie immediately transformed back into human form and grabbed Kim's hands in horror. "You're burnt!"

"It's nothing." Kim shook her head.

"I burned you!"

"It's my fault," Kim said, closing her eyes and concentrating her powers on her hands. "I didn't wear my gloves. It's no big deal, Jackie. I can handle it."

"I burned you!" Jackie repeated, sounding numb. "How could I burn you?"

"You were concentrating on putting out that fire," Kim said, a small frown appearing between her eyes as a white glow surrounded her fingers. "Where did it come from, anyway?"

"I don't know," Jackie said quietly, staring at the ugly-looking welts that had formed on Kim's hands. "You should get those looked at, Kim. They look bad."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Kim cracked open one of her eyes to grin at her Weapon. "C'mon, Jackie, it's not like we haven't had worse."

"But I didn't _hurt_ you those times!"

"Jeez," Kim muttered. "Look, Jackie, it's cool. I know that you're a dangerous weapon; you warned me straight up. Hey, you play with fire, you get burned, right?"

"That isn't funny, Kim!" Jackie snapped.

"Uh, _yeah_ it is. Look, I ca heal these up with magic and everything'll be good as gold."

Jackie shook her head furiously. "This is why Demon Lantern's shouldn't have meisters!" she said. "I was told that as soon as I got to the DWMA: the risks are so big…I could accidentally burn you to death during Soul Resonance!"**

"Then it's a good thing that I'm a Witch, then, isn't it?" Kim flexed her newly-healed fingers. The new skin felt tight and itchy, but she knew that if she scratched them she'd just rip it off, and then she'd have to regrow it all over again.

Jackie started to pace. She did that whenever something stressful happened, and Kim usually found her Weapon's uncharacteristic bouts of hyperactivity adorable: she didn't today.

Carefully, she reached out to snag Jackie's wrists. Jackie instantly went still, like she was afraid that she was going to hurt Kim more.

The Witch's temper spiked.

"Look," she said. "I'm a Witch. By rights, _you_ shouldn't have taken the risk to partner up with me. Who knows what having a Witch's soul resonate with you could do to your abilities?" Kim shrugged. "But it's no big deal. This isn't the first time you've burned me, and I doubt it'll be the last."

"But…" Jackie started.

"Idiot!" Kim muttered, reaching out with her foot to slam into Jackie's ankle. Jackie gave a small cry of surprise and tilted backwards, but Kim just yanked her down to sit against the wall. She tucked the taller girl under her arm and gave her a roguish grin, studiously ignoring the way her Weapon's cheeks went beet red.

"This partnership is every bit as dangerous for you as it is for me, Jackie," she said seriously. "I've accepted the risks. So should you. Besides – what Soul Resonance thing? You've learned to control it. You're _past_ learning to control it. It's instinctive." Kim squeezed her tightly. "We're Spartoi, Jackie. We can do anything!"

"I guess…" Jackie said after a long moment, closing her eyes and resting it against the wall. "I'm sorry for burning you, though."

Kim's eyes glinted evilly. "You should be. Do you know how _annoying_ it is re-grow skin?"

Jackie stiffened, and then let out a long sigh. "How much do you want?" she asked in a resigned voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kim protested.

"Two." Jackie said.

"Three!" Kim responded, outraged.

"Two and a half."

"As if! You're trying to rip me off, aren't you? You burned me!"

"I thought that we just agreed that we were going to accept that we both take risks in this partnership?" Jackie mused.

"That isn't the point!" Kim said quickly. "The point is that you burned the skin off my hands!"

"Oh, grow up," Jackie snorted. "It was _hardly_ the worst injury you've ever had. There were welts and a few blisters. That was it."

"That was not!" Kim insisted. "Look! I had to re-grow my whole palm!" she shoved her hands in Jackie's face, who pushed them away, laughter bubbling in her throat.

"Two chocolate bars, and that's final," she grinned.

"Two and a half! I'll even share the half with you!" Kim bargained.

It was funny; in the beginning of their partnership, Kim's need for money had almost been the end of them. Then, Jackie had found the currency of chocolate: suddenly, losing wasn't such a bad alternative. Two times out of three, Kim would feel guilty enough to share the last half-a-chocolate bar with Jackie, and it meant that she wasn't constantly beating down on her for money.

Chocolate, they had both found, was a comfortable alternative to money. For whatever reason, giving money to Kim for being hurt just felt dirty (and vice versa: whenever Jackie was hurt, Kim found it much easier to let go of chocolate than gold).*

"Two and a half," Jackie finally relented, grinning like a fool. She hadn't felt this comfortable ever since she had arrived in this magic-soaked place.

Kim nodded. "To be delivered by the end of the week." She said.

Jackie nodded.

They both sat there for a while, too content in each other's presence to seek out the rest of the world (which would undoubtedly be in utter chaos).

"Seriously, though, who started that fire?" Kim finally murmured, eyes hooded. "The wood shouldn't have been able to catch alight like that; it's old, it's thick and it's been treated. I saw a few spells on it, too. That thing should be able to stand up against an earthquake and come out laughing."

"It was too hot to be natural," Jackie said. "Did you see those stones? They were white-hot and cracking. It could have only have been going five minutes – maybe less."

"Then we've got an arsonist. But why?"

Jackie paused. "Do you think it's because of us?" she asked. "I mean, maybe they were trying to expose the DWMA or something? Or they were trying to figure out our identities?"

"If so, then they got what they wanted," Kim said grimly. "You transformed and I wielded you. That's a bit of a dead giveaway."

Jackie licked her lips nervously. "I hope everyone's okay."

"They'll be fine, Jackie." Kim rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "McGonagall's a professional. I read a bit on her; she's the real deal."

Jackie nodded and rested her head onto Kim's shoulder. "I don't like it here," she admitted. "You were right. There's something going on here, and I want out."

"Think we could get Kidd to transfer us?" Kim asked hopefully.

"No."

"Damn."

…

* Sorry about this (kinda of a little tangent that wouldn't let go).

**Complete creative licence.

Thanks so much to **CrystallineDragonDemoness** for pointing out my _really_ stupid Spartoi/Spatroi thing. Jeez (I looked over Chapter 6 and wept). I've gone back and changed them (_so sorry about that…_). Seriously, if anyone picks up on any mistakes, just tell me so I can fix them! I read ff too, and those sorts of things drive me nuts, so I don't want to happen to my readers!

**A/N**: Alright! Sorry that it hasn't got much Harry and gang (even though I promised…man, I'm really bad at this, aren't I?). Oh, well. Plot! Yay! Finally, Mneme – jeez, I'm such a slow writer. Sorry!

Please review! It really helps with my motivation!

MM


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter, nor Soul Eater (don't I wish…)

"So Harry tells me that you were there," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling.

"Yup." Kim casually placed her feet on his desk and lent back into her seat, ignoring Jackie's hiss of "_Stop_ it, Kim!"

"Can you tell me anything about it?"

"How about this; we were walking along, not minding anybody's business when we were _accosted_ by those students of yours who you're so fond of – and _then_, just as we were regaled with a harrowing tale of woe, we were about to get something to eat when – _Bam!_ – the door was on fire."

"How very…descriptive of you, Miss Diehl," Professor McGonagall said though thin lips. "But that's not what we're asking."

"Have you told her about us, Dumbles?" Kim asked. Her voice was light, but her eyes were anything but; she was testing him, looking for a hint of hesitation.

"Of course I have."

Kim scowled. "I asked Jackie to transform, and we started sucking up the fire until someone else could get there. After McGonagall came, I figured it'd be awkward if someone had a good look at Jackie in Demon Lantern form, and scrambled."

"How very…concise."

If this had been a formal debrief, or an actual interrogation, Kim could have performed much, much better. She was a Meister, after all, for the DWMA; she had been trained for that sort of thing all throughout her time in the EAT class. However, these people rubbed her raw; they were beings who possessed magic, but they weren't Witches in the familiar sense of the word. Whilst her Council had earned her respect – if not her loyalty – these people she owed nothing.

Kim was here for the DWMA. That was it.

So she was being as uncooperative and annoying as possible.

And if it means that she got to push Dumbledore's buttons, to see what made him tick? Well, that was just a little side-bonus.

"Were you harmed in any way?" Dumbledore leaned forward.

"I don't see how that's any of your concern." Kim snapped. "And do I _look_ like I've been injured?"

"I don't know. Have you been?"

Kim gritted her teeth and hurried to speak before Jackie could give anything away. "Do you have any idea of what happened?"

"None whatsoever."

Both Meister and Weapon gaped at the blasé response. They had expected some _spin_, at least.

"Like…any clues?" Jackie stared at him desperately. "any suspects? A spell?"

"There isn't a known spell strong enough to get past the Great Hall's enchantments, and I assure you that it wasn't a spell by some student. We've considered the theory that it could have been a brief sport of accidental magic from a first year, but we discarded the possibility when we recognised that our wards are just too powerful. No ordinary first-year could have done that."

"Then obviously it's _not_ an ordinary first year!" Kim said through gritted teeth. "We come from a city where 'ordinary' isn't commonplace, and I'm guessing that this is exactly the same. You're a _magic_ school! Death, don't you think that there are _bound_ to be some irregularities?"

"Be as it may, I don't believe –"

"Argh! That's it – I'm outta here! C'mon, Jackie." Moodily, Kim grabbed her partner's hand and stormed towards the door.

"Wait a moment, young ladies! I need to talk to you about that wand issue…" Professor McGonagall started to say.

"Fixed!" Kim said rudely, still walking. "Now, if you don't mind…" they both left.

Jackie pulled her partner to a stop half-way down the stairs. Kim glanced back at her, feeling uncomfortable and claustrophobic in the narrow confines of the stairway. The sooner she was out of there, the better.

"What?" she snapped when Jackie hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Jackie finally blurted out.

"What do you mean? I'm fine – or, I _will_ be, as soon as we can go and relax somewhere." She sent a pointed glace to Jackie.

"I'm serious, Kim!" Jackie said, looking genuinely upset. "You've been twitchy ever since we got here – something's rubbing you raw. I'd be able to _help _you, if you just told me…"

"Nothing's wrong," Kim said again, softer. She squeezed their linked hands. "Honestly, Jackie, I'm fine. I'm just not used to being around so much magic, so openly – that's all."

Jackie didn't look convinced. "You were being terribly unhelpful, back there. Despite what you would have everyone else believe, I know that you don't like to see other people hurt. Usually, you'd be offering up every scrap of info you could think of."

"Usually we'd have the open backing of the DWMA." Kim muttered.

Jackie stared at her hard. "Is that what this is? The underhandedness of it all?"

Kim scowled. "I wasn't made for subtlety! I've had my full of it, pretending not to be a Witch around everyone!"

"But that doesn't mean…"

"People here are underhanded, prejudiced and stupid!" Kim hissed, starting once again down the stairs. "I've heard what they're saying about all this 'moodblood' and 'muggleborn' nonsense and it makes me _sick_. It's like – it's like with the DWMA, and the Witches. Only – only – only…" she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's making me twitchy. It's this whole damn place. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Jackie nodded, face soft with understanding.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting anxiously at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide and faces eagre.

"Are you okay?" Ron burst out the second he saw them.

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione snapped before either girl could answer. "What did you expect? They were only being questioned by Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall – not a manticore!"

"But…"

"What happened?" Harry asked loudly, cutting off the ensuring fight.

Kim couldn't stop the smile that quirked on her lips. "Pretty much what we expected. We were asked some inane questions on the origins of the fire, and when we couldn't provide any spectacular and totally unexpected insight, we left."

"They let you leave?"

"They let us leave," Jackie said smoothly, giving her Meister a warning look.

"Can we ask you some things?" Harry asked uncertainly. "I know that you guys are tied, but Hermione's been in the Library –"

"When hasn't she _ever_ been in the Library?" Ron muttered

"– _and_" – Harry shot his best friend a warning look – "She's got some pretty interesting conclusions about what happened."

"And why you ran away," Hermione added.

Meister and Weapon exchanged a loaded glance, and then nodded in almost perfect tandem. "Shoot," Kim said.

"Perhaps not here," Hermione said delicately. "Anyone could overhear, and teachers are always frequenting around…"

"How about that Room of Requirement we read about?" Jackie asked. "That sounds like the perfect place for an interrogation – sorry, for some questioning."

"I think you got it right the first time," Kim said loudly.

Harry looked worried. "We're not…"

"Can it, Scar-face," Kim said, though the slight smile that curved her lips was an attempt to negate the sting behind her words. "I know you don't mean any harm – at least, I'm pretty sure you don't – but that doesn't mean we're not allowed to take offense. Right, Jackie?"

The Weapon rolled her eyes and said nothing.

Kim scowled. "C'mon, Jack-o'-lantern!" she whined. "Back me up!"

"Interesting nickname," Hermione said.

"Honey, have you _seen_ Jackie's full name? Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupre. I've got tonnes of ammunition for nicknames."

"I see."

_Yeah, okay, they had guessed_.

Kim reached out to grab Jackie's hand. It always made her feel better, to know that her Weapon was near her. Their Soul Resonance rate was impressive – if not as extraordinary as the rate that partners such as Soul and Maka had (but they didn't really count, since their Resonance rate was pretty much off the chats). Kim could feel herself begin to relax as Jackie's soothing presence rubbed up against her soul; _like a cat_, she mused, _a contented cat rubbing itself along my legs_. They didn't have to actively Resonate to feel each other; they could just pick up on the other's wavelength, instinctively.

Such a thing wasn't unknown between strong Meister-Weapon partnerships (once again, Soul and Maka could be cited as such) but it wasn't exactly a _common_ occurrence, either.

But relaxed didn't mean unprepared. She kept a sharp eye on the trio as they led them through the many twists and turns that Hogwarts was made from.

"Where are we?" Jackie asked after a while of walking.

"Seventh floor. Don't worry; we'll be there soon…" Hermione said vaguely, eyes squinting in concentration as they paused at a crossway. "Wait – oh, yeah. This way." A few more turns. "Here it is!"

Kim stared at the tapestry. "What in _Death's_ name is this monstrosity!" she blurted out. Beside her, Jackie looked equally shocked.

"What? Oh, that's just a depiction of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet. Don't worry, he's dead."

"Thank Death for that," Kim muttered, still staring. There was something wrong with these wizards…honestly…

"I remember some of the weird stuff Witches used to pull," Jackie said quietly from beside her. "Teaching trolls ballet is nothing."

Kim paused. "Actually…yeah, you're right." She turned to the trio. "Alright, where's this Room?"

"Give me a sec." Harry started pacing in front of it, face screwed up in concentration. Kim didn't look too impressed, until a door magically materialised in front of them.

"You'd think that I'd get used to this," Jackie shook her head and clutched at Kim's hand tighter. "But _no_, I don't. Things shouldn't just appear out of nowhere!"

"Deep breaths, Jack," Kim said, staring at the door with narrowed eyes. She jerked her head to indicate to Harry. "After you."

"Thanks," Harry said, though he didn't look too insulted. He walked up to the doors and pushed them open, and then just walked into the blank space beyond.

"I don't like this," Jackie scowled as his two friends followed him. "I don't know why, but I _really_ don't like this."

"This magic is ancient," Kim said softly, feeling her soul crawl at the _oldness_ of the magic. It wasn't a negative feeling (if it had been, she would have toasted the damn thing) but it _was_ permeating. The magic swirled lazily around the air, thick and rich, and Kim could understand how Jackie wouldn't feel comfortable with it.

As soon as the trio unveiled their research (which would almost undoubtedly be something to do with the DWMA and Demon weapons – Hermione was a smart young witch raised in the human world; Kim could do the math) she was going to suggest that Jackie transform. It wouldn't do much, but being in Demon Lantern form could probably make her more comfortable.

"C'mon," she said, holding Jackie's hand tightly. "Five minutes, and then we leave, okay?"

Jackie looked uncertain, and then nodded.

Cautiously, Kim walked forward and into the room.

The doors crashed shut behind them.

…

**A/N**: okay, first off: apologies. It's a stupid cliff-hanger and my chapter's late. Yeah, trust me, I know (bawls). I've been going _so_ well up until now, having the chapter prepared early in the week. This time? Not so much.

At the moment I'm swamped with assessments and tests and really stupid amounts of homework. I know that's a pretty much 'standard excuse' on ff, but I'm not coping very well with it. Still, that doesn't mean that I'm going to slow down in writing: one chapter per week, if I'm able!

Also: **Krazyfanfiction1 **– no, I wasn't aware that KimxJackie week is soon. When is it?

**Please review**! Seriously – they've really helped me to write!

Thanks

MM


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Soul Eater or Harry Potter

So! Kim and Jackie week has officially started – I've tried to inquorate some of that into my chapter (not sure how well I succeeded…)

Enjoy and review!

…

Kim sat on her chair like a predator watching her prey: eyes glinting, face a mask of ferocious concentration. Jackie stood behind her, tense and ready.

In front of them stood the Golden Trio, who were fanned out in a lose circle. Hermione, the one who had just finished explaining everything, stood in the centre.

The Room of Requirement had transformed itself into a lounge-room, complete with old-fashioned couches (that everyone had ignored) and a roaring fireplace that Jackie occasionally glanced at nervously.

"That's all you've got?" Kim asked in a bored voice, resting her head against her fist. She was the picture of smug superiority.

Hermione flushed angrily, but nodded. "Yeah." She said jerkily. "That's all I've got. I'd have more, but the Library hasn't got very much on the DWMA."

"Let me guess," Kim smirked. "They don't believe we exist."

"Um…more like, they don't really care." Harry said.

"Yeah, well – their loss." Kim twisted to glance at Jackie. "What do _you_ think, Jack? Shall we kill them?"

Jackie opened her mouth to respond severely, but then she noticed the glint in Kim's eyes that had been missing since they had been given this assignment. Fun. Kim was having fun.

Her partner was amused at the _strangest_ things. "I don't know," Jackie adopted a thoughtful pose.

"You don't kill humans," Hermione bit out, sounding annoyingly superior.

"Yeah? Well, if you've done your homework properly, _little girl_," Kim sneered. "You know that the final soul we have to collect has to be that of a Witch." She pretended to look around. "Hmm. I see_ three_ of them, right in front of me."

Ron went white.

Kim could barely control her snicker. "But I suppose, since our whole purpose here is to _protect_ you brats, killing you would be a bit of a waste of time, wouldn't it?"

Ron looked torn between relief and annoyance at being fooled.

"So am I right?" Hermione wanted to know. "_Are_ you part of the DWMA?"

"Well…yeah." Kim shrugged. She probably shouldn't be telling them any of this information, but the DWMA had always been on pretty good terms with its students (well, the EAT class, at least) for the most part, especially regarding information that was essential. Sure, there had been a few secrets (Brew and Eibon notwithstanding), but everything was generally pretty relaxed. "Wanna make a full introduction, Jackie?"

Jackie didn't look too thrilled, but obediently she bent slightly at the knees and then launched herself into the air, transforming mid-flight, to settle into Kim's hands.

"Alright, here I go," Kim grinned at their gobsmacked expressions. "I'm Kim Diehl, two-star Demon Lamp Meister and Spartoi member. This is my partner, Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupré. Say 'hi', Jackie."

"Of course." A massive blast of fire immediately burst from the lantern and into the air, forming a very evil-looking, grinning face.

The Golden Trio immediately ducked behind the couch, wands at the ready.

"Awh, are you scared?" Kim grinned and tossed Jackie into the air. The Demon Lamp transformed back into her human form, and landed gracefully onto the stone floor. "I think we scared them, Jackie."

Jackie sighed. "We're not going to hurt you guys. Really. We're here to protect you from any unsavoury types who decide to take a stab at a school-kid. That's all."

Ron popped his head out from behind the couch, an angry scowl on his face. "Yeah?" he said with some heat, though he didn't fully expose himself. "And what about Harry when he was in detention with Umbridge? What good were you _then_?"

"Umbridge was a…miscalculation. We've been operating under scarce information, and we couldn't proceed in any way without it. It won't happen again," Jackie said firmly.

"What _I_ don't get," Kim interrupted loudly. "Is why you didn't just _ask_ us who we worked for."

Hermione flushed once again. "And how likely were you to have told us you worked for the Grim Reaper?" she demanded hotly.

"Grim Reaper?" Ron gaped at her. Obviously, she had neglected to fill in her friends before this encounter.

"He's dead," Kim said, bored. "We work for his son, Death the Kid."

"I'm sorry – the Grim Reaper is _dead_?" Harry stared at her as though evaluating her sanity.

"It's a long, tragic story," Kim said, eyes glinting dangerously. "That I don't particularly feel like going into. Needless to say, things didn't end out too well for poor Lord Death. Next question, please."

"What happened last year?" Hermione jumped in. "Everything was going crazy. People were going mad. The suicide rate climbed, the stress rate went through the roof, and the moon went black. I've tried researching into it, and everything always led me back to the DWMA – something that this school barely knows anything about. I'm assuming that you're informed?"

"Of course we're informed," Kim scoffed, reaching out almost unconsciously to grasp Jackie's hand.

_Calm down_, the Lamp Weapon told herself as she felt her cheeks begin to burn_, it's an instinctive reaction. One born out of war. I'm one of her only means of survival; of _course_ she'd reach out to me_.

"Then what happened?" Hermione said.

Kim stared at the girl as though staring at a particularly unimpressive bug.* "I think," she said slowly. "That that is…classified."

"You're kidding!" Ron burst out.

"She's not kidding," Jackie said, glaring at her Meister. _Oh, well. May as well start damage-control now, when she hasn't had the chance to completely ruin their relationship with their three charges_. "Look, we work in a high-risk business. We deal with some pretty dangerous stuff. Of _course_ things are going to be classified, from time to time."

"I don't think…!" Hermione started.

"And I don't care!" Kim barked at her.

"Both of you! Calm down!" Harry snapped. "Look, why don't we all just sit down and _talk_ about this for a second, okay?"

Kim and Hermione glared at each-other mutinously for a long moment, and then each gave a jerky nod. Jackie pulled her Meister over to sit with heron one of the as-of-yet unused couches, while both Ron and Harry muscled Hermione into sitting between them.

"Now that you know what we are," Kim said slowly. "Maybe we could make some sort of arrangement. Don't go off on any little adventures" – she glared at them – "At least, not without telling us; do that and we'll keep you out of trouble."

"You're the same age as us, though!" Ron protested. "I don't understand how you're supposed to protect us…"

"Oh, use your head, Ron," Hermione sighed, though her words lacked any of their customary sting. "This is the DWMA. They've been trained in martial arts and weapons combat for years. She's a two-star Meister, which means that she's fairly talented and in the more advanced stream of students – if neither of them were, they wouldn't be here."

Kim looked grudgingly impressed. "Not bad," she admitted. "So, let's iron out a few details, hmm?"

They managed to work together long enough to solidify some basic information, as well as set up a sort of 'early-warning' system that would alert either of the DWMA students if any of the Golden Trio were in danger.

"It's a fairly easy spell," Kim said as she forced the Trio to line up against the wall. "Kind of like a transmitter and homing beacon in one."

"Trams-mitten?" Ron frowned. "Home bacon?"

"I'll explain it to you later," Hermione assured him.

"Alright, now…_Tanunucoon Raccooncoo n Ponpon Ponkitanu Pon Pon Pon!"_

A feint glow encircled the three, and then it vanished.

Hermione stared at the tanuki-Witch with suspicion. "What kind of spell was _that_?"

"My kind of spell," Kim grinned at her wolfishly.

"But don't you hunt Witches?" Hermione stared at her challengingly.

Kim tilted her head to one side, studying the bright young witch. "You know," she said slowly. "If you weren't so tight laced, I think that we'd get along great." She flashed the Trio a grin. "I mean, look at Jack 'n me. I always thought that she was an up-tight annoyance, and now I can't imagine life without her."

Jackie felt her cheeks begin to glow at the totally-unexpected praise, even as she felt a cold knot of jealousy bury its way into her stomach.

Hermione was, in very many ways, much like Jackie had been before she had been partnered with Kim. She was intelligent and kind but unsure with people who were not her friends. She tried to prove herself too much, to assert her dominance rather than be left alone.

Rationally, Jackie knew that her jealously was completely groundless. Kim could hardly stand Hermione; especially after that spider thing. Irrationally, however, Jackie found as she compared herself to Hermione that, on the surface, the young witch was far better suited to her Meister than she was.

Hermione was a witch; she was beautiful in a quiet, unobtrusive way; she was intelligent and able to stand up for herself – she didn't allow Kim to browbeat her into submission…

"Jackie? Jack, c'mon, we're about to leave…" Kim's frowning face stole its way into Jackie's line of vision, and the Demon Lamp flushed a deep share of red as she realised that she had completely zoned out.

_Dangerous_, she chided herself, _zoning out is dangerous. What would have happened if someone attacked_?

Admittedly, she chances of being attacked at this very single moment were unlikely – however, all it took was one slip up…

"Is something wrong?" Kim brushed a seemingly casual finger over Jackie's cheek.

"N-no," Jackie shook her head and forced herself to her feet: "No, no, I'm fine. What are we…?"

"We're heading off to dinner," Kim looked worried. "Are you sure you're okay? Not coming down with anything?"

"No, I'm fine," Jackie repeated, walking over to the door where the Golden Trio were waiting.

"If you're sure," Kim didn't look convinced, but followed her Weapon without any further protest. "Alright, then. What do you think there'll be for dinner?"

"I hope they have rice balls," Jackie said wistfully.

"Or ramen," Kim sighed.

As they made their way to the Dining Hall, they couldn't help but look at the charred remains of the doors. It looked as though the fire had been too intense to do anything but keep it from expanding; Kim could see DO NOT ENTER tape around areas where the stone had cracked and melted (she briefly thought of Angela and Mifune), and they had to skirt around a large area that was roped-off until they could get to the Gryffindor table.

Then Hermione tripped on something and was sent sprawling forward into Kim, just as they were about to reach the table. Instinctively, Kim sprung out of the way and grabbed Hermione, but she miscalculated and they were both sent stumbling to the ground.

Jackie looked away as Hermione pushed herself off Kim, blushing and stammering apologies. The Demon Lamp reached out to help Kim up, only to find that her Meister had already accepted Hermione's arm instead.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_, Jackie thought to herself. _No need to get jealous_.

Kim slid into the seat next to her, but Jackie was too consumed with her own thoughts to offer up much conversation.

"Hey, this is ramen, isn't it?" Hermione said tentatively from the opposite side of the table.

Kim's answering grin was all Jackie needed as confirmation.

Then the Headmaster's podium burst into fire.

…

…

*I know, I know, I'm being really unfair to poor Hermione – you've got to understand; personally, I adore her. She's one of my favourite characters in the _Harry Potter_ series. But I can see how she and Kim just wouldn't get along, y'know? And I think that Jackie'd follow her Meister's cues. Sorry!

Okay, **A/N**: I'm sorry this is so late (ff is not blocked at my school, so I'm going to have to update when I go home for the weekends – sorry). I hope this was okay! :)

Thanks to **Krazyfanfiction1**, the only one (to date) who has reviewed my previous chapter – that sounds really petty, since I know that my last one wasn't the best, but I hope you guys understand that reviews really do make my day and I love reading any feedback you're willing to give me!

Sorry once again for the late chapter

MM


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter, nor Soul Eater (pity. I could use the money…)

…

Dumbledore stared bemusedly down at the flaming podium.

Professor McGonagall sprang to her feet, hair flying. The teachers all copied her, wands at the ready –

And then, in a strange (and utterly terrifying) show of strength, Dumbledore simply muttered an inaudible spell – and the flames were gone.

The podium was ruined, of course. Nothing left but blackened, smoking wood.

He turned to Professor McGonagall, face grave. "I'm afraid that we_ must_ find this firebug, Minnie," he said.

"Of course we must!" she spluttered, raking a suspicious glare over the student body and the faculty. "This is a direct attack on you!"

"More importantly," Dumbledore gestured to his robes (which, tonight, had been a startling shade of mauve and orange). "These are new, and now they're scorched! This is going to take quite a while to fix…"

Professor McGonagall stared at the Headmaster, and then gave a cry that could be translated as both a wail of abject despair and a snarl of pure rage (_how_ she managed that is one of the great mysteries of life).

"Don't you _care_ that you've just been attacked?" she shouted, looking like she was about to stick her wand in his nose and hex him.

"This is hardly the place to be discussing this, Minnie," Dumbledore's voice held a quiet reprimand.

McGonagall looked around the deadly silent room, and flushed. "Very well, Headmaster," she said with a flustered sort of dignity.

"I would advise you to all go back to your common rooms, while this is being sorted out," Dumbledore called kindly out to the bewildered sea of students. "Food shall be delivered there. Please don't make any move to leave your common rooms. Thank you."

Kim, Jackie and the Golden Trio eyed the smoking podium wearily as they scrambled from their seats. Kim had grasped onto Jackie's hand so tightly that the Demon Weapon was sure that she was going to have bruises, come the next morning.

"There's something fishy going on here," she hissed. "And I don't like it."

"Neither do I," Jackie narrowed her eyes at the students around them. "I didn't see anyone with a wand – though I wasn't really looking." She flushed. "Death, I've gotten soft, around here."

"We'll train in the morning," Kim said absently. "And it's not just you. _I've_ gone soft. I didn't see anything, either."

"Should we report this?"

Kim hesitated as she turned all the possible scenario's over in her mind. "Y-es," she said slowly. "But I don't think that we should call in for backup, just yet. We've got no real proof that anything DWMA related is, y'know, actually happening, and I don't want to scare anyone over a false alarm."

Jackie nodded.

"It's just a little fire," she said with a weak grin. "Nothing we can't handle, right?"

"Right!" Kim nodded firmly. "We've played with fire before, and we've never gotten burned."

"Great," Jackie muttered. "Again, with the 'fire' jokes. I thought we'd gotten over them when we'd first partnered up."

"You'll live." Kim pulled her along. They had lost their friends in the throng of people, and Kim didn't want Harry to be attacked just when they let their guard down.

"There you are!" Hermione said from behind them, grabbing onto Kim's hand and dragging he over to where Harry and Ron stood, protected from the moving crowd by a small alcove in the wall. "Thank _goodness_! We thought we'd lost you!"

"Why didn't you go back to the common room?" Kim said with a scowl, jerking her hand free of Hermione's (to Jackie's no small amount of relief). "Seriously! Whoever's starting these fires has to have an agenda. We don't know enough about them to mount a counter. We don't even know who they _are_!"

Jackie blinked as black spots appeared before her eyes.

She staggered backward, face pale.

"Jackie! Hey, Jack!" Kim grabbed onto both of her arms and hauled her so that she was leaning heavily against the wall. "C'mon, what's wrong?"

Jackie shook her head wordlessly, feeling sick. She tried to open her mouth a few times, but stopped when the words didn't come out.

Kim closed he eyes and tentatively initiated a low-scale Soul Resonance link.

"You're burning up!" she shouted, pressing her hands frantically to Jackie's forehead. "Death, why didn't you _say_ anything?"

Jackie tried to tell her Meister that she hadn't felt this bad before, really, but the most she could do was send a pulse of apology through their Soul Link.

"Death, Death…" Kim muttered, grabbing Jackie's arm and ducking under it, so that she could support her Weapon easily. Jackie was taller than her, but Kim was stronger from the years of wielding Jackie in Demon Weapon form.

"Let's take her to the Hospital Wing," Harry said, looking frantic.

"Yeah. Yeah. C'mon, lead the way." Kim urged, trying to keep calm. "Alright, move it."

Harry rushed off before them, with Kim trying desperately to keep up. She didn't like this. She _really_ didn't like this. Jackie had one of the best immune systems that anyone had ever encountered (her system literally _burnt_ disease and infection out of her). She didn't just…_collapse_.

Something was _wrong_ with this school.

"What's going on with you, Jackie?" Kim muttered as they stumbled forward.

Jackie sent another pulse of apology. She wasn't sick. Honest. She was just _so, so tired_…

"Shut up, you." Kim scowled.

"Almost there," Harry promised a few minutes later. "Do you know what's wrong with her?"

Kim wanted to say: _It feels like her soul is combusting_. If this had been the DWMA, if she had been talking to one of the Spartoi…

But they _weren't_ at the DWMA, and no matter how nice and helpful Harry and the others were being, there was no way they could compare to the Spartoi. Not how they were at the moment, anyway.

They had faced dangerous situations, sure. But they hadn't trained for most of their life in martial arts, hadn't faced madness and chaos and – they were just _kids_. It sounded so stupid when Kim thought it, but that was what they were – kids who had been thrown around, mistreated, misinformed, who possessed incredible powers…sure.

But still. They were kids.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey, the head witch in the Hospital Wing, demanded as soon as they appeared. "What's going on? Shouldn't you be in your common rooms?"

"Jackie collapsed!" Kim blurted out desperately.

Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes at the Demon Weapon, and then bustled her onto one of the beds. "Let's see what we've got here…" she muttered, pressing her palm onto her forehead.

Kim but back a curse. She wanted to do the same, wanted to explore Jackie with her magic and find out _what was wrong with her partner_, but she wasn't sure how much the witch knew. That was going to be one of the first things she asked Dumbledore, when she saw him next: how well informed his staff were.

She didn't seem to do anything overtly obvious, but when Madam Pomfrey lowered her hand, she looked a bit less alarmed. "Exhaustion," she pronounced. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this girl has just run a mid-length marathon."

Kim stared at her. "Exhaustion?" she repeated flatly.

"Yes, miss. Now, if you excuse me, I've got to go and report that you five haven't gone to your common rooms…"

Kim didn't look up from her partner as the witch hurried away, face a mask. "Exhaustion." She said once again.

"Kim?" Hermione asked tentatively. "Is everything okay?"

"No," Kim snapped, sitting next to her partner and pressing her palms against Jackie's face. She allowed her magic to creep through her body, searching, twisting (carefully, carefully), trying to discern the _real_ reason for Jackie's sudden bout of sickness.

Because it _could not_ be exhaustion. Kim was sure that Jackie had been eating properly, resting regularly – and, well, if either of them had a few nightmares, that wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence.

She had been _fine_ just minutes before.

But, _yes_, her magic confirmed that Jackie's body was worn out. It felt the fatigue, felt Jackie's tiredness, and worked quickly to rejuvenate her.

They had only done this a few times – it left Kim a little dizzy for a while, but that was really the only side effect – because neither of them could afford to sleep, on certain jobs.

As soon as the magic left her system, Kim closed her eyes to fight nausea and Jackie's eyes snapped open. She practically sprung off the bed and steadied Kim's hands with her own, face a mask of confusion and concern.

"What's going on?" she demanded, looking around with quick wits and sharp eyes.

Harry, Ron and Hermione just gaped at her as she bullied her Meister onto the bed herself.

"Idiot! We're not in a life-or-death situation!" she snapped when Kim opened her mouth to protest. "But that doesn't mean that we can afford to have you sick! Death, why can't you ever _think_ about these things?"

Kim scowled. "You're not allowed to collapse," she slurred, trying to realign the world. "Alright, alright…jeez, Jack, calm down…"

"I'll calm down when you stop doing stupid things!" the Weapon insisted, not letting go of Kim's hands. "I'm sorry I collapsed, but that doesn't mean…"

"Why did you collapse?" Harry interrupted what was sure to be a long, drawn out conversation. "Madam Pomfrey said that it was exhaustion, but you seemed fine at dinner."

Jackie paused mid-rant, blinking. "Exhaustion?" she said, wearing the same sort of frown that Kim had worn just seconds before. "I felt tired, sure, but I thought it was just a sudden bout of flu or something."

"I felt you. It was exhaustion – pure and simple." Kim closed her eyes once again, and then opened them. She nodded in satisfaction when she noticed that the room had stopped spinning. "I don't know why, though. It felt like your soul was overheating, for a while there."

Jackie frowned. "Kim…" she started.

"You're not allowed to do that again!" Kim lunged at her Weapon and knocked them both to the floor. "You hear me, Jackie? You're _not allowed to do that again_!"

Jackie held her Meister's eyes. "I won't."

Kim held her gaze for a long minute, and then gave a jerky nod and clambered off her Weapon, turning instead to gaze at the silent Golden Trio.

"You will not speak a word of this…" she started.

"Under pain of death," Harry promised.

…

**A/N**: I have been internet deprived for almost a week (shudder).

So! What did you think of this one? What happened to Jackie? Why are things spontaneously combusting? (laughs evilly). Thanks to **Krazyfanfiction1** for reviewing my last chapter (and pretty much every chapter before that…)!

Please review! It motivates me to write more!

MM


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**: I solemnly swear that I own neither Harry Potter nor Soul Eater

Enjoy :)

…

Umbridge watched them like a hawk watched a mouse.

Kim and Jackie stand in front of the classroom, nimrod stiff. Kim resisted the urge to tell Jackie to transform, and Jackie resisted the urge to scorch the garishly pink Professor.

"You have not been to a _single_ one of my classes," she said, voice cloyingly sweet with gleeful disappointment. "Not a _single one_. Now, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"We have really bad time management skills?" Kim offered, only to be jabbed sharply in the elbow by her Weapon.

"Your – _insolence_ – will not be unpunished! Two month's detention, Friday evenings, my office."

Jackie's expression turned grim. "Professor…"

"_Three_ month's detention!"

_Great_. _Just great_. Reflexively, Jackie glared at Kim. It as pure habit; Kim was usually the instigator when it came to things that got both of them in trouble, so the Demon Lamp had developed a nasty (if not entirely inaccurate) quirk of blaming everything on the money-grabbing Witch.

Kim, noticing the glare, smirked.

"Go and sit down!" Umbridge said shrilly, "And _wands away_!" she practically snarled at the class.

Kim and Jackie quickly took some of the seats behind the Golden Trio, both thoroughly relieved to be out of the limelight.

"You know I don't like being harsh with you children," Umbridge said kindly from the front of the class. "But those who break the rules must be – _punished_."

"She's giving me whiplash," Kim hissed under her breath.

"I know, right?" Ron hissed right back from in front of them.

"Who said that?!" Umbridge shouted.

The class remained suspiciously silent. She glared at them, but it wasn't like she could put them _all_ in detention.

Not yet, anyway.

The class was pure torture. The only one who had really bothered to read the text was Hermione, and even she didn't looked too thrilled at giving answers to the pink-toad. By the time class was almost finished, three people had somehow gotten bleeding noses (at almost precisely the same time), two people had thrown up, and one brave person had actually feinted.

All were sent to the infirmary, and Umbridge was livid.

"At least we know the Skiving Snackbox's will sell well," Harry commented after class, watching with disinterest as the pink Professor stormed out of the room.

"Skiving _what_?"

"Something my brother's cooked up," Ron said, shrugging uncomfortably. "They're magic sweets that give you illnesses to get out of class, only…" he stared doubtfully at the copious amounts of blood that spattered a few of the desks. "They're still experimental."

"So those are test subjects?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Kim shrugged, and then her face lit up. "Do you think that they're _paying_ people to test them out?" she asked eagerly.

"No." Jackie said immediately. "You are _not_ volunteering."

"But…."

"No!"

Hermione just clucked her tongue disapprovingly, but didn't comment any further.

Jackie glanced around at the rapidly-draining classroom. "We're going to be late!"

Kim grumbled all the way through her Transfiguration class (which, oddly enough, Jackie seemed to be the one struggling most – the irony was not lost on either of them) and almost groaned in disappointment as they made their way from lunch to the dungeon.

"Last class of the day!" Jackie tried for optimistic, but even she looked a bit green as they followed Harry, Ron and Hermione into the cold darkness of the castle.

"I think this is going to kill me," Kim moaned. "We've already passed all the classes we need back home. Death, we _teach_ some of the classes back home! Gah, I hate school!"

Jackie sighed. It wasn't like Kim was unintelligent – though basic school know-how wasn't exactly a prerequisite for the EAT class (Exhibit A: Black*Star, Exhibit B: Patty) – it was just that she could never really find the effort to _bother_ with it. Schoolwork was just so _boring_…

Of course, she had aced all her tests (Jackie strived for perfection, and would allow nothing less). But she hadn't exactly _enjoyed_ the late-night cramming and time-consuming tutoring sessions that her partner had pressed upon her.

As predicted, Potions was an absolute nightmare. After ten minutes within Snape's presence, Jackie had to physically hold her Meister back from bashing him with her cauldron, and Harry didn't look much better.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" Snape announced once again coolly as he watched the transfers with icy eyes. "You almost blew up the entire class, you _imbecilic child_. You're supposed to add the roots, not the leaves."

Jackie went pale under her skin, and this time it was _Kim_ who had to hold her partner back from causing the _insufferable, annoying, rude, despicable_ (she could go _on_ and _on_) _Slytherin_ from grievous bodily harm.

Still…there was something about him that put them both on edge. It wasn't the fact that he was a double-agent (thankfully, they had been briefed on _that_ little titbit) or the fact that something about his face reminded them uncomfortable of Crona…

No, it was the way he held himself. The look in his eyes.

"War veteran," Jackie murmured to Kim the moment he went to berate poor Neville Longbottom on his "Utterly disastrous!" potion.

_That's right_, Kim thought. _War veteran_. They had both seen the disillusioned, almost _broken_ aura around a disturbing number of people within Death City: the careful way they walked, the hesitant way they talked, their insistence on always being close to either their respective partner or a weapon of some sort…

The fact that one was teaching made them all kinds of nervous. Flashbacks hadn't been uncommon around Death City, nor had PTSD. While they were fairly sure that Snape wasn't going to suddenly go into meltdown and imagine them all to be Death Eaters, they weren't exactly _unsure_ of that, either.

Everyone was glad to leave the classroom, with none (not even members of his precious house) deciding to linger after class. For some reason, he had been in a terrible mood. Obviously, from the looks on everyone's faces, it had been worse than usual.

"He even took points off _Slytherin_," Ron said as they dashed away, sounding awed. "Man, what a day…"

Harry and his friends cornered them as soon as they got back from dinner to the common room.

Kim and Jackie stared at them for a long moment, and then both simultaneously collapsed onto to one of the free couches, near the fireplace. People had long-since begun to steer clear of the destructive two (whilst Jackie had a perfectly nice and pleasant personality, it was rare that she was out of Kim's sight, and _Kim's_ personality was far from nice and pleasant), and so they quickly found that they had the whole fireplace to themselves.

"What do you want to talk about?" Kim drawled, stretching out of the couch and throwing her arm around a blushing Jackie's shoulders. Hermione gave them an odd look, but (to Jackie's eternal gratitude) didn't comment.

"Umbridge…" Harry began.

"Yes, yes, we know. For whatever reason, the school board has decided to allow the sadistic bitch to make students _bleed_." Kim shook her head in disgust. "Seriously, isn't there a _law_ against that? Isn't it – I don't know – child abuse, or something?"

"I looked into it," Hermione said glumly. "As soon as Harry told us what was going on. She's got the backing of the Minister of Magic, and that means that she's pretty much got free reign. _Technically_, what she's doing isn't illegal – though I'm sure that most people in the Ministry would disagree."

"So why don't we out her?" Jackie asked. "Gather a few people who could swear under a truth potion about what she's doing, and give it to the press."

"_Sell_ it to the press," Kim said, eyes gleaming greedily. "Think about it! It'd be like killing two birds with one stone – we get rid of her, _and_ make money!"

"That's illegal, too," Hermione said quickly. "Students aren't allowed to talk to the media about the goings-on in Hogwarts. Whoever speaks up publically could very well get expelled."

"Dumbledore wouldn't do that," Jackie pointed out.

"The Minister might not give him much of a choice," Hermione sighed.

"We'll think of something," Kim reassured the troubled-looking trio. "Look, I know you don't know much about the DWMA, but let me tell you – we make _impossible_ things happen. We're the best, the brightest, the most _talented_ people in the world. If anyone can get rid of Umbridge, it's going to be us."

Jackie gave them a confident smile that was a far cry from her gloomy emotions. Yes, the DWMA made the impossible possible – but usually, that was when they had the backing of a _team_. When they had people they could rely on. Sure, there were some solo acts (Black*Star being a perfect example, though it was rare that he left Tsubaki behind), but for the most part the DWMA was a military organization. That meant a strong sense of teamwork and cooperation.

Here, they wouldn't be able to initiate Resonance Link. Though it was obvious that, at the moment, the worst thing that they were facing was a sadistic teacher with _far_ too much political power, Jackie knew that the inability to Resonate with their teammates ate at Kim. Such a bond had helped them out quite a lot, when it came to fighting Arachnophobia (Jackie internally shuddered), the Black Clowns, and the Keishin.

Kim and Jackie were used to fighting with others – both in the physical sense, and in a mental sense.

So, no, this wasn't going to be as easy as Kim made it out to be.

…

**A/N**: Over 20 reviews! 23! I love _everyone_ who reviewed! Thankyou-thankyou-thankyou, you _wonderful_ people! (particularly to **Krazyfanfiction1 **(of course) and **Waywardneko**, who reviewed my last chapter!)

*blushes* alright, rant over. On a more serious note: I've had a real problem with this chapter. I don't know why, but it just didn't flow like it usually does. Apologies! I tried reworking it a few times, but nothing worked, so *shrugs*, I figured I'd just put up the one I disliked the least.

Feel free to review more (and disagree with me)!

MM

…

(Mischief Managed)


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer**: I own neither Harry Potter, nor Soul Eater (Oh, cruel world – why did you not bless me with the ability to work hard, ignore procrastination and finish work _on time_? Why?)

Enjoy :)

…

Despite their best intentions, Kim and Jackie didn't manage to get out of detention with Umbridge.

"I blame you," Kim muttered as they dutifully stood at her office door, waiting not-so-patiently for their doom.

"Me?" Jackie scowled. "What did _I_ do?"

"You're the one who didn't let me put a laxative into her tea!" Kim hissed.

"Because that would be a _horrible_ thing to do to someone, no matter _how_ evil!"

"I'd _so_ put a laxative in Asura's tea." Kim crossed her hands over her chest petulantly.

"And I would let you," Jackie sighed. "But laxatives do not hold the answers to life, Kim. I thought that you'd at least some up with something more original…"

"How about the zombie kitten idea? I got some great tips from the Weasley twins about illusions…"

"You've been hanging out with the Weasley twins?" Jackie stared at her. "When was this? How much are they paying you." Her eyes narrowed. "Is this the reason for that very opportune dizzy-spell in Potions today?"

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about."

"Sure, Kim, sure." Jackie shook her head. "And I'm only holding you back until _next_ week, Kim. I thought we agreed; two detentions for recon, and then we raise hell."

Kim looked away, biting her lip. "I _know_, but…" she shrugged. "I took a look at Harry's hand. Healed it up for him. It's going to leave a scar, though. _I must not tell lies_. Death, what kind of sadistic bitch is she?"

"He'll be…"

"I don't want that to happen to you," Kim looked up at the ceiling. "We've both got enough scars as it is."

"Soul and Maka have more," Jackie pointed out. "So does Stein, and Marie, and Ox…"

Kim stiffened almost imperceptibly, but Jackie could feel the tension in her Meister's shoulders. Silently, she berated herself for being so insensitive.

Really, there was nothing to tell. Kim had given it a shot, and the decided it wouldn't work. The two of them had been in an off-on relationship for almost a year, before Kim decided that enough was enough. They were still good friends, both insisted, but there was always an underlying awkwardness to conversation that belayed that persona.

"And Kilik," she continued, as though nothing had happened. Sometimes, it was just best to let the sleeping beast lie. "And you know all about Liz and Patty's scars."

"That doesn't meant that…" she bit her lip sharply as someone came to join them.

A Slytherin, they both saw straight away; she was slightly chubby, with a squishy nose but very large brown eyes. Her hair was a neatly groomed and drawn back in an immaculate tail, and her robes were obviously very fine quality.

"Detention, are we?" she asked, raising an elegantly sculpted eyebrow their way.

"You got it, Miss…"

"Parkinson. Pansy Parkinson." Then she obviously dismissed them from her mind and brought her clenched knuckles down on the office door down in three precise knocks.

"It won't work. We've been trying for almost five…Oh." Jackie sighed as the door slowing creaked open. "Well, then."

The office was a nightmare. Kittens – _hundreds of them_ – lined the walls, mewling and filling the air was a screeching noise.

"I thought places like this were banned by the Geneva Convention," Kim muttered, looking around with no little trepidation.

"Miss Diehl, Miss Dupre, Miss Parkinson, how nice of you to join me." Umbridge smiled as though she was a toad, all pink frills and green skin.

_Zombie cats, zombie cats, zombie cats_… Kim thought desperately.

"Could you please sit at those desks" – she waved a casual hand to the three desks that had obviously been set up especially for them – "and we shall begin."

"What exactly are we doing…Professor?" Kim said.

Umbridge's eyes narrowed, noticing the hesitation, but she obviously decided to let it go for once, because she simply told them to go to their seats once again.

Jackie shot a warning glare to her partner, one that obviously said: _Just go with it_. The easier they played along, the easier it would be to gain information – and the more information they had, the less time they had to spend _here_. Jackie wasn't exactly thrilled to be slicing her hands to bits, either, though she knew that Kim would patch them up as soon as Witchly possible.

"Lines, if you may." Umbridge hesitated. "I've set out ink for you, and the quills are on your desks. Now, as for what you should write…Miss Diehl, please write: _I must not talk back to my betters_, one-hundred-and-fifty times, if you please. Miss Dupre, would you be kind enough to write: _I must not be tardy_, two hundred times. And Miss Parkinson…" her eyes narrowed at the ugly, elegant girl sitting at the furthest desk. "Please write: _I must never steal library books_, one-hundred-and-seventy times. You may begin."

Kim and Jackie exchanged hesitant looks of confusion. Ink? That didn't fit in with Harry's hand…

Jackie paused, wondering if this was some kind of trick – but no, Pansy was already writing, and she seemed to be suffering no ill effects.

How very odd.

Gathering up her courage, Jackie dipped the quill into the ink and began to write.

_I must not be tardy._

_I must not be tardy._

_I must not be tardy_.

No burning sensation to her skin. No blood, no scars…nothing.

She glanced discreetly over to Kim, who looked just as confused as she did. This wasn't adding up. Still, it wasn't like she was going to _complain_ to Umbridge, and demand that they start using pens to gauge out their skin. No, thanks. Still, something about this smelled rotten…

Jackie finished first, despite having to write the most; her sentence was smaller than both Pansy and Kim's (by the end of it, she was _sick_ of all the words), and therefore took the least time to write. Probably why Umbridge had assigned her the most lines to write. She paused at the very last one, marking another ten (that had been how she had kept track), and let out an almost inaudible sigh.

Now, Jackie was faced with a conundrum: to leave, or not to leave?

She didn't want to leave Kim here, to face this toad-human hybrid with only a Slytherin for backup. She could wait outside the door, of course, but there was always the chance that Professors (or, more likely, Prefects) would be out patrolling, and to be caught would be yet another inconvenience in their plans to protect Harry.

Then Umbridge's quill snapped in two.

All three girls jerked their heads up, the noise sudden and unexpected amongst the silence of scratching quills.

Umbridge's face was a mask of absolute, all-encompassing anger.

Quickly, Jackie initiated a low-level Resonance link with Kim; one that had nothing to do with the danger she could feel lurking under her skin, and everything to do with the fact that Umbridge was _seriously freaking her out_.

It was almost embarrassing for the veteran Weapon to admit that she was unsettled to easily.

"You are dismissed, girls," she snapped, staring at the piece of paper in front of her as though it was a poisonous pit viper.

Pansy frowned. "I haven't finish…"

"You are _dismissed_!"

Kim didn't need any further urging. Saying a mumbled goodbye to the Professor, she snatched up her sheets of parchment and quickly dragged Jackie out of there.

"What's going on?" Jackie hissed, glancing back to the office. Pansy was walking quickly out of there and going in the opposite direction. Towards the dungeons, she thought she heard Harry mention once. The Slytherin housing quarters were in the dungeons.

"I don't know, and I don't like it." Kim jerked them both to a halt. Still glancing around suspiciously, she crowded Jackie into a deep, shadowed alcove and pressed herself next to her partner. "We need to discuss this. Now."

"We _need_ to get into her office," Jackie corrected her, glancing towards Umbridge's office. The door was still hanging open, spilling light out into the otherwise dark hallway. "Something set her off. I want to know what."

Kim nodded, looking tense. "Why didn't she use those quills? What's going on?"

"I don't know. Something's off about her. She's not – I don't like her."

"_No_ one likes her," Kim snorted.

"No, that's not what I meant. I just…" Jackie trailed away, frustrated. "I don't know _what_ I mean. But don't you feel it, Kim? It's – it's like every time I'm in her presence, my skin crawls and I want to transform."

Kim pursed her lips. "I guess…" she said after a long moment. "But it really doesn't matter what we think. What we _need_ is to research some more into the 'Deloris Umbridge'. She came out of nowhere from a Ministry that's so corrupt I'm embarrassed not to be making any money out of it. I don't see how much good the DWMA can do, if the government isn't going to help itself."

"If it intervenes, it'll mean we've got a whole lot more going on than just a corrupt government," Jackie said grimly. "I don't know how Asura's Madness Wavelength affects those with this kind of magic, but I bet you that we're seeing some of its effects with Umbridge. Maybe even with this Tom Riddle guy."

"In that case, we're going to need Maka's anti-madness wavelength. Maybe even Soul's black blood."

"We'll report it tomorrow." Jackie nodded, allowing her head to collapse briefly against her Meister's shorted shoulders. "This is getting complicated, Kim. I thought we were just supposed to be making sure that Harry didn't get into too much trouble."

"I _said_ that I was against this, but did anyone listen? No!"

"Kid didn't want us to go."

Kim hesitated. "Maybe – Jackie, I can't believe I'm saying this, and if you tell this to anyone I'll deny it till the day I kill you – but _maybe_ it's a good thing that we came. I think that the Witches noticed something wasn't right, and they decided to intervene indirectly through me. There's something off about Hogwarts."

"So you think it's a _good_ thing we're here?" Jackie lifted her head to stare at her partner. "Who are you and what have you done with Kim Diehl?"

"Ha, ha." Kim shook her head. "I'm serious. I don't exactly _want_ to be here, obviously, but…" she shrugged. "I think that something afoot. Maybe us being around means that the DWMA isn't going to be caught off-guard once again."

Jackie pursed her lips, and then sighed. "What you and I think really doesn't matter at this point. We're not going to report any of this until tomorrow. Liz, Patty and Kid barely get enough sleep as it is."

"I know, I know." Kim looped her arm through Jackie's and pulled her away. "We'll figure out how to get through this, okay? We'll break into Umbridge's office, steal all her files…" she hesitated and sneaked a pleading peek at Jackie. "Charm all those horrible cats to look like zombie kittens?"

Jackie had to bite down on her lip to keep from grinning. "Surely you can think of something more original than that."

Kim smiled and hugged Jackie's arm close to her chest. "I'll work on it."

The next day, it was announced that Pansy Parkinson was dead.

…

**A/N**: (evil laughter) ta-da! More _plot_! I had fun writing this (it flowed _way_ better than my last one – at last, I think it did. I could be wrong). Big thanks to **Krazyfanfiction1** (of course), **Waywardneko**, and **Guest** for reviewing (I love you all, you _wonderful, fabulous, marvellous_ people!)

Soooo….what did you think? Did people like it? Please review!

…

MM

(Also, I'm not going to be able to update next week, since I'm taking a forced vacation to my grandparents. Apologies! On the plus side, I'll be able to write more, so maybe I'll update two chapters when I get back)


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